Baltasar Gracian
To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else.
Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it.
It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.
Begin with another's to end with your own.
A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens a truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself.
Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art.
Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying any one long on her shoulders.
It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.
Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.
There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.
To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.Collection: Thinking
Know how to keep anticipation alive: always strive to feed it, by letting the much promise more, and the one achievement be the announcement only of a greater. Put not all your reserves into the first throw; the great trick is to dole out strength, and to dole out mind, in such a fashion as to bring forward increasingly the fulfillment of what was expected of you.Collection: Fashion
Don't lie, but don't tell the whole truth.Collection: Lying
Life is a warfare against the malice of others.Collection: Warfare
Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.Collection: Success
The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him help himself.Collection: Helping
Every fool stands convinced; and everyone convinced is a fool. The faultier a person's judgement the firmer their convictions.Collection: Judgement
Self knowledge is the beginning of self improvement.Collection: Self
Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.Collection: Knowing
Do not make mistakes about character. Better be cheated in the price than in the quality of goods.Collection: Mistake
A prudent man will think more important what fate has conceded to him, than what it has denied.Collection: Fate
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.Collection: Wise
Mix a little mystery with everything, for mystery arouses veneration.Collection: Littles
Know how to use evasion. That is how smart people get out of difficulties.Collection: Smart
Hear, see, and be silent.Collection: Silence
We have more days to live through than pleasures. Be slow in enjoyment, quick at work, for men see work ended with pleasure, pleasure ended with regret.Collection: Regret
No' and 'Yes' are words quickly said, but they need a great amount of thought before you utter them.Collection: Needs
When a man's knowledge is deep, he speaks well of an enemy. Instead of seeking revenge, he extends unexpected generosity. He turns insult into humor, ... and astonishes his adversary who finds no reason not to trust him.Collection: Revenge
When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see.Collection: Light
Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.Collection: School
God Himself chasteneth not with a rod but with time.Collection: Time
Deceit comes in through the ears, but usually leaves through the eyes.Collection: Eye
A gilded No is more satisfactory than a dry Yes.Collection: Dry
Share weight and woe, for misfortune falls with double force on him that stands alone.Collection: Fall
The greatest fool is he who thinks he is not one and all others are.Collection: Thinking
There is no need to show your ability before everyone.Collection: Needs
Hope is a great falsifier of truth.Collection: Hope
One deceit needs many others, and so the whole house is built in the air and must soon come to the groundCollection: Air
A wise prince must never take things easy in times of peace.Collection: Wise
It is more offensive to outshine in dignity than in personal attractions.Collection: Dignity
We live by information, not by sight.Collection: Knowledge
To oblige people often costs little and helps much.Collection: Cost
Two kinds of people are good at foreseeing danger: those who have learned at their own expense, and the clever people who learn a great deal at the expense of others.Collection: Clever
The crutch of Time accomplishes more than the club of Hercules.Collection: Time
You have to appear wiser and more prudent than is required by the people you are dealing with if you want to give a high opinion of yourself.Collection: People
Wisdom is immortal. She can wait forever, but you cannot.Collection: Wisdom
It requires as much to tell the truth as to conceal it.Collection: Telling The Truth