Baltasar Gracian

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

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

“Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.”

“Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.”

“Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best for that we must have recourse to art.”

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

“The things we remember best are those better forgotten.”

“To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else.”

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

“Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.”

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

“When desire dies, fear is born.”

“Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.”

“Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.”

“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.”

“Always leave something to wish for otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.”

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

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

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

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

“True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.”

“Know or listen to those who know.”

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

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