Baltasar Gracian Quotes
Spanish Jesuit author regarded as one of the most accomplished prose stylists of the Baroque era.
(1601 - 1658)
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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.
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A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.
[Women]
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A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
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A prudent man will think more important what fate has conceded to him, than what it has denied.
[Forgiveness]
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A sage has one advantage; he is immortal. If this is not his century, many others will be.
[Wisdom]
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A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.
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A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
[Enemies]
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Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
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Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.
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Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.
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At 20 a man is a peacock, at 30 a lion, at 40 a camel, at 50 a serpent, at 60 a dog, at 70 an ape, and at 80 nothing.
[Men]
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Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy; in the one case that confidence may not fall asleep, in the other that it may not be dismayed.
[Attempt]
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Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
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Begin with another's to end with your own.
[Begin]
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Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.
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Do not persist in folly. Some make it a duty of failure and having started down the wrong road, think it is a badge of character to continue.
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Do not show your wounded finger, for everything will knock up against it.
[Adversity]
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Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent.
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Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.
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Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.
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