"Nothing arouses ambition so much in the heart as the trumpet-clang of another's fame."
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Quote collection
Baltasar Gracian quotes (page 8 of 13)
258 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness."
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"Exaggeration is a branch of lying."
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"Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check."
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"Attain and maintain a reputation, for it is the usufruct of fame. A stiff climb, for it is the issue of excellence, as rare as mediocrity is common."
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"Admiration is the basis of ignorance."
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"Most do violence to their natural aptitude, and thus attain superiority in nothing."
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"Passion colors all that it touches in its own hues."
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"Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from afar, partly because it is ready made and perfect."
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"Know the great men of your age."
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"Have Friends. 'Tis a second existence."
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"To be at ease is better than to be at business."
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"The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them."
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"Begin with another's to end with your own."
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"The wise does at once what the fool does at last."
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"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."
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"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."
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"Courtesy is the politic witchery of great personages."
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"Mediocrity obtains more with application than superiority without it."
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"God Himself chasteneth not with a rod but with time."
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