BALTASAR GRACIAN

We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend.

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

He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.

Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying any one long on her shoulders.

To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.

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

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

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

The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.

At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.

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.

The things we remember best are those better forgotten.

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.

Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.

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

A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.

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.

Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.

It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.

Work is the price which is paid for reputation.

True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.

Have friends. 'Tis a second existence.

He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.

When desire dies, fear is born.

There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.