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
integrity self judgment
Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yourself when you are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to all external percepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority.
judgment checks good-judgment
Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.
exaggeration-is taste judgment
Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste.
forty judgment thirty twenty
At twenty the will rules, At thirty the intellect, At forty the judgment
integrity done shows
They make the greatest show of what they have done, who have done least.
along arm time truth
Truth always lags last, limping along on the arm of Time
man spanish-philosopher
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.
spanish-philosopher
Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
spanish-philosopher time withdraw
There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
memories remember forgotten
The things we remember best are those better forgotten.
loss missing risk
Never risk your reputation on a single shot, for if you miss the loss is irreparable.
time truth lag
Truth always lags behind, limping along on the arm of Time.
writing letters chance
Chance has something to say in everything, even how to write a good letter
dignity offensive attraction
It is more offensive to outshine in dignity than in personal attractions.