Baltasar Gracian

“Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second.”

“A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”

“A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.”

“Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy; in the one case that confidence may not fall asleep, in the other that it may not be dismayed.”

“Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.”

“Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.”

“Begin with another's to end with your own.”

“It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.”

“Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.”

“Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.”

“He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave.”

“To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.”

“When desire dies, fear is born.”

“Have friends. 'Tis a second existence.”

“The wise does at once what the fool does at last.”

“Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do.”

“Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself.”

“Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.”

“Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.”

“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.”