Quotes from Baltasar Gracian

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.

Always leave something to wish for otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.

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

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

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.

All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.

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.

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.

Do pleasant things yourself, but unpleasant things through others.

Friendship multiplies the good in life and divides the evil.

Put yourself on view. This brings your talents to light.

The great art of giving consists in this: the gift should cost very little and yet be greatly coveted, so that it may be the more highly appreciated.

The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.

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

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

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.

To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.

Nothing really belongs to us but time which even he has who has nothing else.

Time and I against any two.

Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second.

Evil report carries further than any applause.

A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity.

Tis much to gain universal admiration; more, universal love.

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