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
wisdom intelligence sage
The sage has one advantage: he is immortal. If this is not his century, many others will be.
wisdom believe sage
Some would be sages if they did not believe they were so already.
sage merit attention
The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.
solitude sage beast
He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.
door greater invariably lesser open spanish-philosopher
Never open the door to the lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
argument opponent side taken wrong
Don't take the wrong side in an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side
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.
harm spirit weak
A weak spirit does more harm than a weak body.
forty judgment thirty twenty
At twenty the will rules, At thirty the intellect, At forty the judgment
destroys integrity lie reputation single
A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity
fools half laughs
One half the world laughs at the other, and fools are they all
against cannot carry genius intelligence mark mental plot spirit stupidity though
Do not carry a spirit of contradiction, for it is to be freighted with stupidity and with peevishness, and your intelligence should plot against it; though it may well be the mark of mental genius to see objection, a wrangler about everything cannot
integrity done shows
They make the greatest show of what they have done, who have done least.
spanish-philosopher
Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.