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.
Baltasar Gracian

A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.
Baltasar Gracian

A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
Baltasar Gracian

A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.
Baltasar Gracian

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

Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
Baltasar Gracian

Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.
Baltasar Gracian

Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.
Baltasar Gracian

At 20 a man is a peacock, at 30 a lion, at 40 a camel, at 50 a serpent, at 60 a dog, at 70 an ape, and at 80 nothing.
Baltasar Gracian

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.
Baltasar Gracian

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.
Baltasar Gracian

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

Begin with another's to end with your own.
Baltasar Gracian

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

Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent.
Baltasar Gracian

Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.
Baltasar Gracian

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

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

Evil report carries further than any applause.
Baltasar Gracian

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.
Baltasar Gracian