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Many Of The Things That Bring Delight Should Not Be Owned. They Are More Enjoyed If Another's, Than If Yours; The First Day They Give Pleasure To The Owner, But In All The Rest To The Others: What Belongs To Another Rejoices Doubly, Because It Is Without The Risk Of Going Stale And With The Satisfaction Of Freshness. . . The Possession Of Things Not Only Diminishes Their Enjoyment, But Augments Their Annoyance, Whether Shared Or Not Shared.

-Baltasar Gracian

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Many Of The Things

Baltasar Gracian

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Many Of The Things That Bring Delight Should Not Be Owned. They Are More Enjoyed If Another's, Than If Yours; The First Day They Give Pleasure To The Owner, But In All The Rest To The Others: What Belongs To Another Rejoices Doubly, Because It Is Without The Risk Of Going Stale And With The Satisfaction Of Freshness. . . The Possession Of Things Not Only Diminishes Their Enjoyment, But Augments Their Annoyance, Whether Shared Or Not Shared.

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Admiration Is The Basis Of Ignorance.

The Sage Never Seems To Know His Own Merits, For Only By Not Noticing Them Can You Call Others' Attention To Them.

Many Have Had Their Greatness Made For Them By Their Enemies.

Trust Your Heart, Especially When It Is A Strong One.

Trust Your Heart

Little Said Is Soon Amended. There Is Always Time To Add A Word, Never To Withdraw One.

It Is Profound Philosophy To Sound The Depths Of Feeling And Distinguish Traits Of Character. Men Must Be Studied As Deeply As Books.

Know How To Play The Card Of Contempt. It Is The Most Politic Kind Of Revenge. For There Are Many Of Whom We Should Have Known Nothing If Their Distinguished Opponents Had Taken No Notice Of Them. There Is No Revenge Like Oblivion, For It Is The Entombment Of The Unworthy In The Dust Of Their Own Nothingness.

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.

Things Do Not Pass For What They Are, But For What They Seem. Most Things Are Judged By Their Jackets.

All Victories Breed, And That Over Your Superior Is Foolish Or Fatal.

Character And Intelligence Are The Poles You Talent Spins On, Displaying Your Gifts.

Few Are The Friends Of A Mans Self, Most Those Of His Circumstances.

It Is Better To Have Too Much Courtesy Than Too Little, Provided You Are Not Equally Courteous To All, For That Would Be Injustice.

A Brand New Mediocrity Is Thought More Of Than Accustomed Excellence.

It Is More Offensive To Outshine In Dignity Than In Personal Attractions.

For A Thing To Remain Undone Nothing More Is Needed Than To Think Of It Done.

To Find One Real Friend In A Lifetime Is Good Fortune; To Keep Him Is A Blessing.

Knowing How To Keep A Friend Is More Important Than Gaining A New One.

Better Mad With The Rest Of The World Than Wise Alone.

Know How To Choose Well. Most Of Life Depends Thereon. It Needs Good Taste And Correct Judgment, For Which Neither Intellect Nor Study Suffices.

Without Courage, Wisdom Bears No Fruit.

It Is A Great Misfortune To Be Of Use To Nobody; Scarcely Less To Be Of Use To Everybody.

He Who Puts Off Nothing Till Tomorrow Has Done A Great Deal.

Procrastination

Putting Things Off

To Equal A Predecessor, One Must Have Twice They Worth.

Hope Has A Good Memory, Gratitude A Bad One.

To Keep Is More Important Than To Make Friends.

The Worthless Usually Live Long.

Surfeits Of Happiness Are Fatal.

Evil Report Carries Further Than Any Applause.

Do Not Be Held A Cheat, Even Though It Is Impossible To Live Today Without Being One. Let Your Greatest Cunning Lie In Covering Up What Looks Like Cunning.

Passion Colors All That It Touches In Its Own Hues.

Always Leave Something To Wish For; Otherwise You Will Be Miserable From Your Very Happiness.

A Single Lie Destroys A Whole Reputation For Integrity.

Leave Your Luck While Still Winning.

Know Or Listen To Those Who Know.

There Is No Wilderness Like A Life Without Friends; Friendship Multiplies Blessings And Minimizes Misfortunes; It Is A Unique Remedy Against Adversity, And It Soothes The Soul.

Truth Is For The Minority.

It Is A Great Deed To Leave Nothing For Tomorrow.

Some Would Be Sages If They Did Not Believe They Were So Already.

Knowledge Without Wisdom Is Double Folly.

Wise Men Appreciate All Men, For They See The Good In Each And Know How Hard It Is To Make Anything Good.

Know How To Use Evasion. That Is How Smart People Get Out Of Difficulties.

If You Are Wise, Live As You Can; If You Cannot, Live As You Would.

Don't Take The Wrong Side Of An Argument Just Because Your Opponent Has Taken The Right Side.

The Wise Are Always Impatient, For He That Increases Knowledge Increases Impatience Of Folly.

When Everyone Covets Something, They Are Easily Annoyed By It.

Know How To Keep Anticipation Alive: Always Strive To Feed It, By Letting The Much Promise More, And The One Achievement Be The Announcement Only Of A Greater. Put Not All Your Reserves Into The First Throw; The Great Trick Is To Dole Out Strength, And To Dole Out Mind, In Such A Fashion As To Bring Forward Increasingly The Fulfillment Of What Was Expected Of You.

A Wise Man Gets More Use From His Enemies Than A Fool From His Friends.

Wisdom And Courage Make Mutual Contributions To Greatness.

The Envious Die Not Once, But As Oft As The Envied Win Applause.

Censure Is Like The Lightning Which Strikes The Highest Mountains.

Make Your Friends Your Teachers And Mingle The Pleasures Of Conversation With The Advantages Of Instruction.

If There Is Nothing Left To Desire, There Is Everything To Fear, An Unhappy State Of Happiness.

There Is No Wilderness Like A Life Without Friends.

Without Friends

The Truth Is Generally Seen, Rarely Heard.

It Is Therefore An Excellent Device To Acquire Knowledge From Everybody.

Success Rarely Brings Satisfaction.

Do Not Make Mistakes About Character. That Is The Worst And Yet Easiest Error. Better Be Cheated In The Price Than In The Quality Of Goods. In Dealing With Men, More Than With Other Things, It Is Necessary To Look Within. To Know Men Is Different From Knowing Things. It Is Profound Philosophy To Sound The Depths Of Feeling And Distinguish Traits Of Character. Men Must Be Studied As Deeply As Books.

Knowledge Without Courage Is Sterile.

Nothing Is Good For Him For Whom Nothing Is Bad.

To Oblige People Often Costs Little And Helps Much.

The Passions Are The Humors Of The Mind, And The Least Excess Sickens Our Judgment. If The Disease Spreads To The Mouth, Your Reputation Will Be In Danger.

Do Not Be Inaccessible. None Is So Perfect That He Does Not Need At Times The Advice Of Others. He Is An Incorrigible Ass Who Will Never Listen To Any One. Even The Most Surpassing Intellect Should Find A Place For Friendly Counsel. Sovereignty Itself Must Learn To Lean. There Are Some That Are Incorrigible Simply Because They Are Inaccessible: They Fall To Ruin Because None Dares To Extricate Them. The Highest Should Have The Door Open For Friendship; It May Prove The Gate Of Help. A Friend Must Be Free To Advise, And Even To Upbraid, Without Feeling Embarrassed.

Luck Can Be Assisted. It Is Not All Chance With The Wise.

Oh Life, You Should Never Had Begun, But Since You Did, You Should Never End

Always Act As If You Were Seen.

Have Friends. 'tis A Second Existence.

There Must Be Something Good In A Thing That Pleases So Many; Even If It Cannot Be Explained, It Is Certainly Enjoyed.

There Is No Need To Show Your Ability Before Everyone.

Human Condition

There Is No Desert Like Being Friendless.

The Best Skill At Cards Is Knowing When To Discard.

Exaggeration Is A Prodigality Of The Judgment Which Shows The Narrowness Of One's Knowledge Or One's Taste.

Exaggeration Is

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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.

Begin With Another's To End With Your Own.

Aspire Rather To Be A Hero Than Merely Appear One.

The Heaven Of The Envied Is Hell For The Envious.

What The Multitude Says, Is So, Or Soon Will Be So.

Put Yourself On View. This Brings Your Talents To Light.

A Synonym Is A Word You Use When You Can't Spell The Other One.

Fortune Soon Tires Of Carrying Anyone Long On Her Shoulders.

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We Live By Information, Not By Sight.

Maturity Of Mind Is Best Shown In Slow Belief.

Maturity Is The Slowness In Which A Man Believes.

Never Lose Your Self-respect, Nor Be Too Familiar With Yourself When You Are Alone. Let Your Integrity Itself Be Your Own Standard Of Rectitude, And Be More Indebted To The Severity Of Your Own Judgment Of Yourself Than To All External Percepts. Desist From Unseemly Conduct, Rather Out Of Respect For Your Own Virtue Than For The Strictures Of External Authority.

The Great Art Of Giving Consists In This The Gift Should Cost Very Little And Yet Be Greatly Coveted, So That It May Be The More Highly Appreciated.

The Wise Have A Solid Sense Of Silence And The Ability To Keep A Storehouse Of Secrets. Their Capacity And Character Are Respected.

The Path To Greatness Is Along With Others.

Never Have A Companion That Casts You In The Shade.

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A Man Of Honour Should Never Forget What He Is Because He Sees What Others Are.

You May Be Obliged To Wage War, But Not To Use Poisoned Arrows.

Hope Is A Great Falsifier. Let Good Judgment Keep Her In Check.

Rate The Intensive Above The Extensive. The Perfect Does Not Lie In Quantity, But In Quality.

Let Him That Hath No Power Of Patience Retire Within Himself, Though Even There He Will Have To Put Up With Himself.

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The Liar Suffers Twice: He Neither Believes Nor Is Believed.

What Is Not Seen Is As If It Was Not. Even The Right Does Not Receive Proper Consideration If It Does Not Seem Right.

Cunning Grows In Deceit At Seeing Itself Discovered, And Tries To Deceive With Truth Itselft.

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Friends Provoked Become The Bitterest Of Enemies.

It Is Good To Vary In Order That You May Frustrate The Curious, Especially Those Who Envy You.

It Is A Great Piece Of Skill To Know How To Guide Your Luck Even While Waiting For It.

The Things We Remember Best Are Those Better Forgotten.

It Requires As Much To Tell The Truth As To Conceal It.

Telling The Truth

The Best Remedy For Disturbances Is To Let Them Run Their Course, For So They Quiet Down.

The Wise Persono Would Rather See Others Needing Him Than Thanking Him.

Help Others Solve Their Problems; Standing Farther Away, You Can Often See Matters More Clearly Than They Do. . . The Greatest Service You Can Render Someone Else Is Helping Him Or Her Help Themselves.

Peacemakers Not Only Live, They Rule Life.

He That Communicates His Secret To Another Makes Himself That Other's Slave.

The Wise Person Finds Enemies More Useful Than The Fool Does Friends .

Let The First Impulse Pass, Wait For The Second.

Respect Yourself If You Would Have Others Respect You.

Quit While You're Ahead. All The Best Gamblers Do.

No One Demands More Caution Than A Spy, And When Someone Has The Skeleton Key To Minds, Counter Him By Leaving The Key Of Caution Inside, On The Other Side Of The Keyhole.

Know The Great Men Of Your Age.

There Are Friendships Merely For Pleasure, Some For The Exchange Of Ideas. Rarest Are Those Friends Of One's Inmost Self.

Great Ability Develops And Reveals Itself Increasingly With Every New Assignment.

Everything Foreign Is Respected, Partly Because It Comes From Afar, Partly Because It Is Ready Made And Perfect.

La Galantería Y La Honra Tienen Esta Ventaja, Que Se Quedan: Aquélla En Quien La Usa, ésta En Quien La Haze.

You Should Avoid Making Yourself Too Clear Even In Your Explanations.

Two Kinds Of People Are Good At Foreseeing Danger: Those Who Have Learned At Their Own Expense, And The Clever People Who Learn A Great Deal At The Expense Of Others.

One Who Was Abhorred By All In Prosperity Is Adored By All In Adversity.

He Who Finds Fortune On His Side Should Go Briskly Ahead, For She Is Wont To Favor The Bold.

Share Weight And Woe, For Misfortune Falls With Double Force On Him That Stands Alone.

A Wise Prince Must Never Take Things Easy In Times Of Peace.

I Strive To Be Brief, And I Become Obscure.

Self Improvement

Display Startling Novelty-rise Afresh Like The Sun Every Day. Change Too The Scene On Which You Shine, So That You Rloss May Be Felt In The Old Scenes Of Your Triumph, While The Novelty Of Your Powers Wins Applause In The New.

When You Find Fortune Favorable, Stride Boldly Forward, For She Favors The Bold, And Being A Woman, The Young.

To Be At Ease Is Better Than To Be At Business.

To Be At Ease Is Better Than To Be At Business. Nothing Really Belongs To Us But Time, Which You Have Even If You Have Nothing Else.

The Hossanas Of The Multitude Can Never Bring Satisfaction To The Discerning. Yet There Exist Those Chamaleons Of Popularity Who Find Their Joy, Not In The Sweet Breath Of Apollo, But In The Smell Of The Crowd. And Not In Mind: Do Not Be Taken In By What Are Miracles To The Populace, For The Ignorant Do Not Rise Above Marveling. Thus The Stupidity Of A Crowd Is Lost In Admiration, Even As The Brain Of An Individual Uncovers The Trick.

If To Talk To Oneself When Alone Is Folly, It Must Be Doubly Unwise To Listen To Oneself In The Presence Of Others.

We Often Have To Put Up With Most From Those On Whom We Most Depend.

Sometimes It Proves The Highest Understanding Not To Understand.

Mediocrity Obtains More With Application Than Superiority Without It.

Keep To Yourself The Final Touches Of Your Art.

Work Is The Price Which Is Paid For Reputation.

You Should Aim To Be Independent Of Any One Vote, Of Any One Fashion, Of Any One Century.

Beauty And Folly Are Generally Companions.

Beautiful Women

Friendship Multiplies The Good Of Life And Divides The Evil.

Deceit Comes In Through The Ears, But Usually Leaves Through The Eyes.

The Heaven Of The Envied Is Hell For The Envious. [...because They Focus On What They Don't Have Rather Than Being Grateful For What They Have, Which Is Always Better Than Some Others.]

Do Pleasant Things Yourself, But Unpleasant Things Through Others.

Pleasant Things

Wisdom Is Immortal. She Can Wait Forever, But You Cannot.

Many Would Be Wise If They Did Not Think Themselves Wise.

True Knowledge Lies In Knowing How To Live.

Yes And No Are Soon Said, But Give Much To Think Over.

He Who Laughs At Everything Is As Big A Fool As He Who Weeps At Everything.

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.

Politeness And A Sense Of Honor Have This Advantage: We Bestow Them On Others Without Losing A Thing.

There Are Rules To Luck, Not Everything Is Chance For The Wise; Luck Can Be Helped By Skill.

The True Way Is The Middle One, Halfway Between Deserving A Place And Pushing Oneself Into It.

Do Not Show Your Wounded Finger For Everything Will Knock Up Against It.

Never Risk Your Reputation On A Single Shot, For If You Miss The Loss Is Irreparable.

Never Contend With A Man Who Has Nothing To Lose.

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.

Even Monarchs Have Need Of Authors, And Fear Their Pens More Than Ugly Women The Painter's Pencil.

Lies Always Come First, Dragging Fools Along By Their Irreparable Vulgarity. Truth Always Lags Last, Limping Along On The Arm Of Time.

You Have To Appear Wiser And More Prudent Than Is Required By The People You Are Dealing With If You Want To Give A High Opinion Of Yourself.

Do Not Make Mistakes About Character. Better Be Cheated In The Price Than In The Quality Of Goods.

When Desire Dies, Fear Is Born.

Politeness Is The Chief Sign Of Culture.

Tis Much To Gain Universal Admiration; More, Universal Love.

None Is So Perfect That He Does Not Need At Times The Advice Of Others.

Know How To Ask. There Is Nothing More Difficult For Some People, Nor For Others, Easier.

The Wise Does At Once What The Fool Does At Last.

There Is No Revenge Like Oblivion, For It Is The Entombment Of The Unworthy In The Dust Of Their Own Nothingness.

There Is No Beauty Unaided, No Excellence That Does Not Sink To The Barbarous, Unless Saved By Art.

Exaggeration Is A Branch Of Lying.

Exaggeration Is

Be Known For Pleasing Others, Especially If You Govern Them. Ruling Other Has One Advantage: You Can Do More Good Than Anyone Else.

Pleasing Others

Nature Scarcely Ever Gives Us The Very Best; For That We Must Have Recourse To Art.

To Overvalue Something Is A Form Of Lying.

Knowledge And Courage Take Turns At Greatness.

Fools Rush In Through The Door; For Folly Is Always Bold.

Possession Hinders Enjoyment. It Merely Gives You The Right To Keep Things For Or From Others, And Thus You Gain More Enemies Than Friends.

Courtesy Is The Politic Witchery Of Great Personages.

Hurry Is The Weakness Of Fools.

God Himself Chasteneth Not With A Rod But With Time.

Many Pleasant Things Are Better When They Belong To Someone Else. When Things Belong To Others, We Enjoy Them Twice As Much, Without The Risk Of Losing Them, And With The Pleasure Of Novelty.

They Make The Greatest Show Of What They Have Done, Who Have Done Least.

It Is A Novel Kind Of Supremacy, The Best That Life Can Offer, To Have As Servants By Skill Those Who By Nature Are Our Masters.

It Is Impossible To Live Without Brains, Either One's Own Or Borrowed.

A Gilded No Is More Satisfactory Than A Dry Yes.

Many People Who Pretend To Be Very Busy Have The Least To Do.

Mix A Little Mystery With Everything, For Mystery Arouses Veneration.

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.

Excellence Resides In Quality, Not In Quantity. The Best Is Always Few And Rare; Much Lowers Value.

Chance Has Something To Say, Even How To Write A Good Letter.

Man Is Born A Barbarian, And Only Raises Himself Above The Beast By Culture.

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.

Hope Is A Great Falsifier Of Truth.

Some Are Satisfied To Stand Politely Before The Portals Of Fortune And To Await Her Bidding; Better Those Who Push Forward, Who Employ Their Enterprise, Who On The Wings Of Their Worth And Valor Seek To Embrace Luck, And To Effectively Gain Her Favor.

Not He That Adorns But He That Adores Makes A Divinity.

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