A biography for Baltasar Gracianhasn’t been written yet.
“Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.”
“It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.”
“One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity.”
“He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.”
“It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.”
“True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.”
“Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.”
“Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.”
“Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn't being applauded when you arrive - for that is common - but being missed when you leave.”
“He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.”
“A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens a truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself.”
“It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.”
“Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.”
“Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.”
“Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.”
“Evil report carries further than any applause.”
“Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets.”
“We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend.”
“A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.”
“Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.”