Baltasar Gracián Quotes

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

Engage with reason so misfortune doesn't contend with you.

Their intrinsic worth is not enough, for not all turn the goods over and look deep. Most run where the crowd is — because the others run

Things of the first importance are few; let appreciation be rare.

When you are on the way to fortune associate with the eminent; when arrived, with the mediocre. cliii

Know the fortunate in order to choose them, and the unfortunate in order to flee from them. Bad luck is usually brought on by stupidity, and among outcasts nothing is so contagious. Never open the door to the least of evils, for many other, greater ones lurk outside. The trick is to know what cards to get rid of. The least card in the winning hand in front of you is more important than the best card in the losing hand you just laid down. When in doubt, it is good to draw near the wise and the prudent. Sooner or later they will be fortunate.

a misfortune cannot surprise a man who has already feared it.

moral cowardice lowers one more than physical. Many have had eminent qualities, yet, for want of a stout heart, they passed inanimate lives and found a tomb in their own sloth. Wise Nature has thoughtfully combined in the bee the sweetness of its honey with the sharpness of its sting. lv

Half the world is laughing at the other half, and all are fools.

Some people belong entirely to others… They have not a day, not an hour to call their own, so completely do they give themselves to others. This is true even in matters of understanding. Some people know everything for others and nothing for themselves.

Virtue alone is for real; all else is sham. Talent and greatness depend on virtue, not on fortune. Only virtue is sufficient unto herself. She makes us love the living and remember the dead.

La virtud es cosa de veras, todo lo demás de burlas. La capacidad y grandeza se ha de medir por la virtud, no por la fortuna. Ella sola se basta a sí misma. Vivo el hombre, le haze amable; y muerto, memorable.

The one rule for pleasing: whet the appetite, keep people hungry.

Única regla de agradar: coger el apetito picado con el hambre con que quedó.

Don't live by generalities, unless it be to act virtuously, and don't ask desire to follow precise laws, for you will have to drink tomorrow from the water you scorn today.