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
knowledge sight information
We live by information, not by sight.
judgment checks good-judgment
Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.
wisdom folly
Knowledge without wisdom is double folly.
office political dignity
Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it.
wisdom believe sage
Some would be sages if they did not believe they were so already.
exaggeration-is taste judgment
Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste.
nice honor enemy
Treat your enemies with courtesy, and you'll see how valuable it really is. It costs little but pays a nice dividend: those who honor are honored. Politeness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.
happiness
Surfeits of happiness are fatal.
wise fashion knowledge
Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.
wings luck bidding
Some are satisfied to stand politely before the portals of Fortune and to await her bidding; better those who push forward, who employ their enterprise, who on the wings of their worth and valor seek to embrace luck, and to effectively gain her favor.
merit affection
The more merit, the less affection.
depends
We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend.
passion mind excess
The passions are the humors of the mind, and the least excess sickens our judgment. If the disease spreads to the mouth, your reputation will be in danger.
fall doors should-have
Do not be inaccessible. None is so perfect that he does not need at times the advice of others. He is an incorrigible ass who will never listen to any one. Even the most surpassing intellect should find a place for friendly counsel. Sovereignty itself must learn to lean. There are some that are incorrigible simply because they are inaccessible: They fall to ruin because none dares to extricate them. The highest should have the door open for friendship; it may prove the gate of help. A friend must be free to advise, and even to upbraid, without feeling embarrassed.