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Ability
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Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.
-Baltasar Gracian, The Oracle
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Action(s)
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The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Age
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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
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Anger
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Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Beauty
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A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Brevity
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Good things, when short, are twice as good.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Danger
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Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Desires
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When desire dies, fear is born.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Enemy, Enemies
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A wise man learns more from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Envy / Jealousy
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The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Evil
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Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other ones invariably slink in after it.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Excellence
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There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Fashion
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Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.
-Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldy Wisdom, 1647
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Fight, Fighting
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Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Friends
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Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Have friends. 'Tis a second existence.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Gratitude
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He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Heroes/Heroism
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Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Ideas
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Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.
-Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom 1647
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Imitation
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To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Innovation
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Begin with another's to end with your own.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Insanity
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Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Knowledge
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True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.
-Baltasar Gracian
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Books by and about Baltasar Gracian