Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to be a slave, a slave to every man Above all, keep yourself free of commitments and obligations - they are the device of another to get you into his power Baltasar Gracian More Quotes by Baltasar Gracian More Quotes From Baltasar Gracian Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way. Baltasar Gracian dream long way The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him help himself. Baltasar Gracian helping One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity. Baltasar Gracian arrivals arriving opportunity Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong. Baltasar Gracian angry-feelings temper anger Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. Baltasar Gracian true-friend relationship friendship 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. Baltasar Gracian wise opportunity men 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. Baltasar Gracian should-have doors fall It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards. Baltasar Gracian awake-at-night sleep lying To find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing. Baltasar Gracian true-friend real friendship Always act as if you were seen. Baltasar Gracian behavior ifs When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see. Baltasar Gracian light forgotten advice Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. Baltasar Gracian doors inspirational life 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. Baltasar Gracian taken revenge should-have He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave. Baltasar Gracian slave secret reality Know or listen to those who know. Baltasar Gracian belief motivational knowledge Know what is evil, no matter how worshipped it may be. Let the man of sense not mistake it, even when clothed in brocade, or at times crowned in gold, because it cannot thereby hide its hypocrisy, for slavery does not lose its infamy, however noble the master. Baltasar Gracian evil mistake men Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side. Baltasar Gracian opponents taken justice Know how to use evasion. That is how smart people get out of difficulties. Baltasar Gracian smart advice people There are friendships merely for pleasure, some for the exchange of ideas. Rarest are those friends of one's inmost self. Baltasar Gracian friends self ideas Watchfulness is the only guard against cunning. Be intent on his intentions. Many succeed in making others do their own affairs, and unless you possess the key to their motives you may at any moment be forced to take their chestnuts out of the fire to the damage of your own fingers. Baltasar Gracian keys fire may
