Gracian Quotes

Do pleasant things yourself, but unpleasant things through others. — Baltasar Gracian

Know how to use evasion. That is how smart people get out of difficulties. — Baltasar Gracian

He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well. — Baltasar Gracian

Attain and maintain a reputation, for it is the usufruct of fame. A stiff climb, for it is the issue of excellence, as rare as mediocrity is common. — Baltasar Gracian

Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching. — Baltasar Gracian

Be extraordinary in your excellence, if you like, but be ordinary in your display of it. — Baltasar Gracian

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

For a thing to remain undone nothing more is needed than to think of it done. — Baltasar Gracian

Keep to yourself the final touches of your art. — Baltasar Gracian

It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you. — Baltasar Gracian

Worries die away before a man who asserts himself. — Baltasar Gracian

Knowledge without wisdom is double folly. — Baltasar Gracian

Possession hinders enjoyment. It merely gives you the right to keep things for or from others, and thus you gain more enemies than friends. — Baltasar Gracian

Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one. — Baltasar Gracian

Deal with people from whom you can learn — Baltasar Gracian

You should therefore never reveal what causes you pain or pleasure, so that the former may quickly end and the latter long continue. — Baltasar Gracian

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

There is no beauty unaided, no excellence that does not sink to the barbarous, unless saved by art. — Baltasar Gracian

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 — Baltasar Gracian

Be a combination of a dove and the serpent; not a monster, but a prodigy. — Baltasar Gracian

Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture. — Baltasar Gracian

Respect yourself is you would have others respect you. — Baltasar Gracian

It is impossible to live without brains, either one's own or borrowed. — Baltasar Gracian

Be first the master of yourself — Baltasar Gracian

Wisdom is immortal. She can wait forever, but you cannot. — Baltasar Gracian

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. — Baltasar Gracian

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

There is no desert like being friendless. — Baltasar Gracian

Mediocrity obtains more with application than superiority without it. — Baltasar Gracian

For the advice in a joke is sometimes more useful than the most serious teaching. — Baltasar Gracian

The liar suffers twice: he neither believes nor is believed. — Baltasar Gracian

Fools rush in through the door; for folly is always bold. — Baltasar Gracian

The most and best of us depend on others; we have to live either among friends or among enemies. — Baltasar Gracian

A gilded No is more satisfactory than a dry Yes. — Baltasar Gracian

Many get the repute of being witty but thereby lose the credit of being sensible. Jest has its little hour, seriousness should have all the rest. — Baltasar Gracian

Be open to suggestion, no one is so perfect that they may not need advice from time to time. — Baltasar Gracian

There is no wilderness like a life without friends. — Baltasar Gracian

Friends provoked become the bitterest of enemies. — Baltasar Gracian

Hear, see, and be silent. — Baltasar Gracian

If to talk to oneself when alone is folly, it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others. — Baltasar Gracian

One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity. — Baltasar Gracian

Moderation is necessary even in our desire for knowledge so as not to know things badly. — Baltasar Gracian

The greatest wisdom often consist in ignorance. — Baltasar Gracian

You can cultivate taste, as you can the intellect. Full understanding whets the appetite and desire, and, later, sharpens the enjoyment of possession. — Baltasar Gracian

To overvalue something is a form of lying. — Baltasar Gracian

He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything. — Baltasar Gracian

To oblige persons often costs little and helps much. — Baltasar Gracian

Know or listen to those who know. — Baltasar Gracian

Deceit comes in through the ears, but usually leaves through the eyes. — Baltasar Gracian

Character and intelligence are the poles you talent spins on, displaying your gifts. — Baltasar Gracian

One deceit needs many others, and so the whole house is built in the air and must soon come to the ground — Baltasar Gracian

Many people who pretend to be very busy have the least to do. — Baltasar Gracian

If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness. — Baltasar Gracian

The true way is the middle one, halfway between deserving a place and pushing oneself into it. — Baltasar Gracian

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

Cultivate those who can teach you. — Baltasar Gracian

The right kind of leisure is better than the wrong kind of work. — Baltasar Gracian

Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose. — Baltasar Gracian

Truth is for the minority. — Baltasar Gracian

A man is judged by his friends, for the wise and the foolish have never agreed. — Baltasar Gracian

You should avoid making yourself too clear even in your explanations. — Baltasar Gracian

God Himself chasteneth not with a rod but with time. — Baltasar Gracian

Know how to ask. There is nothing more difficult for some people, nor for others, easier. — Baltasar Gracian

Diligence removes impossibilities. — Baltasar Gracian

When everyone covets something, they are easily annoyed by it. — Baltasar Gracian

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

It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it. — Baltasar Gracian

Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do. — Baltasar Gracian

You should aim to be independent of any one vote, of any one fashion, of any one century. — Baltasar Gracian

Leave your luck while still winning. — Baltasar Gracian

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you. — Baltasar Gracian

We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend. — Baltasar Gracian

Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one. — Baltasar Gracian

Life doesn't depend on any one opinion, any one custom, or any one century. — Baltasar Gracian

Passion colors all that it touches in its own hues. — Baltasar Gracian

There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled. — Baltasar Gracian

The crutch of Time accomplishes more than the club of Hercules. — Baltasar Gracian

Share weight and woe, for misfortune falls with double force on him that stands alone. — Baltasar Gracian

Tis by no means the least of life's rules: To let things alone. — Baltasar Gracian

Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second. — Baltasar Gracian

The greatest fool is he who thinks he is not one and all others are. — Baltasar Gracian

There are rules to luck, not everything is chance for the wise; luck can be helped by skill. — Baltasar Gracian

Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. — Baltasar Gracian

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 — Baltasar Gracian

There's no greater absurdity than taking everything seriously. — Baltasar Gracian

Nothing is good for him for whom nothing is bad. — Baltasar Gracian

Courtesy is the politic witchery of great personages. — Baltasar Gracian

Things are done quickly enough if done well. If just quickly done they can be quickly undone. — Baltasar Gracian

The wise have a solid sense of silence and the ability to keep a storehouse of secrets. Their capacity and character are respected. — Baltasar Gracian

The greatest skill at cards is to know when to discard; — Baltasar Gracian

Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste. — Baltasar Gracian

Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side. — Baltasar Gracian

Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check. — Baltasar Gracian

The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause. — Baltasar Gracian

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

If you cannot make knowledge your servant, make it your friend. — Baltasar Gracian

Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself. — Baltasar Gracian

Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not. — Baltasar Gracian

Truth always lags behind, limping along on the arm of Time. — Baltasar Gracian