Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracián y Morales, SJ, formerly Anglicized as Baltazar Gracian, was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud. His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche...
NationalitySpanish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 January 1601
CountrySpain
ends should
Oh life, you should never had begun, but since you did, you should never end
giving risk delight
Many of the things that bring delight should not be owned. They are more enjoyed if another's, than if yours; the first day they give pleasure to the owner, but in all the rest to the others: what belongs to another rejoices doubly, because it is without the risk of going stale and with the satisfaction of freshness. . . the possession of things not only diminishes their enjoyment, but augments their annoyance, whether shared or not shared.
violence aptitude natural
Most do violence to their natural aptitude, and thus attain superiority in nothing.
perfect afar made
Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from afar, partly because it is ready made and perfect.
conversation folly ifs
If to talk to oneself when alone is folly, it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others.
doors stupidity fool
Fools rush in through the door; for folly is always bold.
favors being-a-woman young
When you find Fortune favorable, stride boldly forward, for she favors the bold, and being a woman, the young.
birthday justice age
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.
long favors pay
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.
thinking ideas people
Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.
lying exaggeration-is branches
Exaggeration is a branch of lying.
inspirational motivational art
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.
men barbarians culture
Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture.
memories paradise habit
One should cultivate good habits of memory, for it is capable of making existence a Paradise or an Inferno.