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
favors sides should
He who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold.
wise learning thinking
Many would be wise if they did not think themselves wise.
work skills kind
It is a novel kind of supremacy, the best that life can offer, to have as servants by skill those who by nature are our masters.
excellent devices acquire
It is therefore an excellent device to acquire knowledge from everybody.
teamwork greatness team-work
The path to greatness is along with others.
confidence thinking secret
Never participate in the secrets of those above you; you think you share the fruit, and you share the stones - the confidence of a prince is not a grant, but a tax
lying form
To overvalue something is a form of lying.
beauty companion folly
Beauty and folly are generally companions.
divinity adore
Not he that adorns but he that adores makes a divinity.
fashion style doe
A person of your century: Great persons are of their time. Not all were born into a period worthy of them, and many so born failed to benefit by it. Some merited a better century, for all that is good does not always triumph. Fashions have their periods and even the greatest virtues, their styles. But the philosopher, being ageless, has one advantage: Should this not prove the right century, many to follow will.
wise respect men
Wise men appreciate all men, for they see the good in each and know how hard it is to make anything good.
peace peacemaker
Peacemakers not only live, they rule life.
silence silent
Hear, see, and be silent.
simple enjoy simple-happiness
The happy are an exception who enjoy innocently their simple happiness.