Baltasar Gracian Wise Quotations

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

Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.

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

Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.

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

Keep the extent of your abilities unknown.The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honored at all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.

The wise are always impatient, for he that increases knowledge increases impatience of folly.

The wise persono would rather see others needing him than thanking him.

Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can’t be good, be careful.

There are rules to luck, not everything is chance for the wise; luck can be helped by skill.

A wise prince must never take things easy in times of peace.

Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand.

The wise have a solid sense of silence and the ability to keep a storehouse of secrets. Their capacity and character are respected.

A man is judged by his friends, for the wise and the foolish have never agreed.

If you are wise, live as you can; if you cannot, live as you would.

Wise men appreciate all men, for they see the good in each and know how hard it is to make anything good.

Many would be wise if they did not think themselves wise.

The wise person finds enemies more useful than the fool does friends .

The greatest wisdom often consist in ignorance.