Quotes By Baltasar Gracian

Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.

A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.

He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave.

Evil report carries further than any applause.

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

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.

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.

When desire dies, fear is born.

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.

Have friends. 'Tis a second existence.

Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.

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

The wise does at once what the fool does at last.

Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets.

To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.

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

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

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.

Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.

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

It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.

Work is the price which is paid for reputation.

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

Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second.

Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.

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

It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.

Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.

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

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.