Quotes from Baltasar Gracian

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.

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

Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.

Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.

There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.

God Himself chasteneth not with a rod but with time.

The crutch of Time accomplishes more than the club of Hercules.

There are certain inessential activities-moths of precious time-and it is worse to busy yourself with the trivial than to do nothing.

Never compete with someone who has nothing to lose.

The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.

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

Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.

Begin with another's to end with your own.

Silence is the sanctuary of prudence.

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

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

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

Nothing arouses ambition so much in the heart as the trumpet-clang of another's fame.

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

Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.

Never compete with someone who has nothing to lose.

Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.

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

Good things, when short, are twice as good.