Baltasar Gracian Quotes

Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.

‘No’ and ‘Yes’ are words quickly said, but they need a great amount of thought before you utter them.

Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.

The best skill at cards is knowing when to discard.

True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island… to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.

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.

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.

He who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold.

Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.

When everyone covets something, they are easily annoyed by it.