Baltasar Gracián (1601–58,) fully Baltasar Jerónimo Gracián y Morales, was a Spanish baroque moralist, Jesuit scholar, and philosophical novelist. Considered one of the greatest prose masters of Spain’s Golden Age, he was the foremost Spanish exponent of conceptism (“conceptismo,”) a literary style that employs terse and subtle displays of exaggerated wit.
Born in Belmonte de Calatayud, Spain, Gracián studied at Calatayud and Zaragoza. He entered the Jesuit order at the age of 18 and became rector of the Jesuit College at Tarragona.
Gracián’s initial works—El héroe (1637; ‘The Hero,’) El discreto (1646; ‘The Compleat Gentleman,’) and El oráculo manual y arte de prudencia (1647; ‘The Art of Worldly Wisdom: A Pocket Oracle’)—were predominantly efforts to instruct people in the ethics of worldly life. His literary style of conceptism was first presented in Agudeza y arte de ingenio (1642, ‘Subtlety and the Art of Genius.’)
Gracián published pseudonymously El criticón (1651, 1653, 1657; The Critick, 1781,) a three-part philosophical novel that portrays a pessimistic allegorical vision of human life. Arthur Schopenhauer considered it one of the best books ever written.
Gracián’s works influenced Francois de La Rochefoucauld, and later Voltaire, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jorge Luis Borges. Arthur Schopenhauer considered El criterión one of the best books ever written.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Baltasar Gracian
Good things, when short, are twice as good.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Brevity
Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Loss, Fighting, Losers, Leadership, Losing
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 keep up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talents.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Strength
It is more offensive to outshine in dignity than in personal attractions.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Dignity
Mediocrity obtains more with application than superiority without it.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Perseverance
A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Reputation
Oh life, you should never had begun, but since you did, you should never end.
—Baltasar Gracian
Share weight and woe, for misfortune falls with double force on him that stands alone.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Giving
Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Action
Never open the door to the least of evils, for many other, greater ones lurk outside.
—Baltasar Gracian
Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Danger
The wise man would rather see men needing him than thanking him.
—Baltasar Gracian
There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Excellence
The things we remember the best are those better forgotten.
—Baltasar Gracian
Begin with another’s to end with your own.
—Baltasar Gracian
Topics: Originality
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