Baltasar Gracian Quotes

Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.

The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him help himself.

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.

Don't lie, but don't tell the whole truth.

Life is a warfare against the malice of others.

One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity.

Every fool stands convinced; and everyone convinced is a fool. The faultier a person's judgement the firmer their convictions.

Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.

No' and 'Yes' are words quickly said, but they need a great amount of thought before you utter them.

It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.

Hear, see, and be silent.

At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.

Self knowledge is the beginning of self improvement.

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.

Know how to use evasion. That is how smart people get out of difficulties.

Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can’t be good, be careful.

The wise does at once what the fool does at last.

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.

Silence is the sanctuary of prudence.

Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.

Always act as if you were seen.

The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.

Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to be a slave, a slave to every man Above all, keep yourself free of commitments and obligations - they are the device of another to get you into his power

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.