To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
About Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracian y Morales, S.J. (Spanish: [balta’sar gra’thjan]; 8 January 1601 – 6 December 1658), better known as Baltasar Gracian, was a Spanish Jesuit and Baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragon).
More quotes from Baltasar Gracian
True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island… to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Quit while you’re ahead. All the best gamblers do.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
When desire dies, fear is born.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
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.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
The wise does at once what the fool does at last.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
The things we remember best are those better forgotten.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Begin with another’s to end with your own.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Don’t take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Know or listen to those who know.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other’s slave.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Evil report carries further than any applause.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
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.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Work is the price which is paid for reputation.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Have friends. ‘Tis a second existence.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn’t being applauded when you arrive – for that is common – but being missed when you leave.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
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.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
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.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
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.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
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.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.
Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)