Baltasar Gracian Quotes - Page 8

It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.

The wise person finds enemies more useful than the fool does friends .

No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of caution inside, on the other side of the keyhole.

Few are the friends of a mans self, most those of his circumstances.

A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.

The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.

What the multitude says, is so, or soon will be so.

They make the greatest show of what they have done, who have done least.

Put yourself on view. This brings your talents to light.

Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from afar, partly because it is ready made and perfect.

To keep is more important than to make friends.

Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.

I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.

Knowledge without wisdom is double folly.

To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which you have even if you have nothing else.

There is no desert like being friendless.

He who puts off nothing till tomorrow has done a great deal.

The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.

Begin with another's to end with your own.

Most do violence to their natural aptitude, and thus attain superiority in nothing.

He who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold.

Friendship multiplies blessings and...soothes the soul.

There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.

The happy are an exception who enjoy innocently their simple happiness.

Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.