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61 " There's no greater absurdity than taking everything seriously. "
― Baltasar Gracián , How to Use Your Enemies
62 " When desire dies,fear is born "
― Baltasar Gracián
63 " The happy are an exception who enjoy innocently their simple happiness. "
― Baltasar Gracián , The Art of Worldly Wisdom
64 " Know how to ask. There is nothing more difficult for some people, nor for others, easier. "
65 " Recognize things when they are at their best, in their season, and know how to enjoy them then. The works of nature all amount to a peak of perfection; up to it they wax, beyond it they wane. Only in matters of art have a few gone to the point where they might not be improved. It is the mark of cultivated taste to enjoy everything at its best. But all may not do this, and not all who may, know how. Even the fruits of the spirit have their moment of ripeness, and it is well to recognize this, in order to value it properly and attend to it. "
66 " Things have their time, even eminence bows to timeliness. "
67 " A person of your century: Great persons are of their time. Not all were born into a period worthy of them, and many so born failed to benefit by it. Some merited a better century, for all that is good does not always triumph. Fashions have their periods and even the greatest virtues, their styles. But the philosopher, being ageless, has one advantage: Should this not prove the right century, many to follow will. "
68 " The right kind of leisure is better than the wrong kind of work. "
69 " Every fool stands convinced; and everyone convinced is a fool. The faultier a person's judgement the firmer their convictions. "
70 " 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. "
71 " 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. "
72 " You should therefore never reveal what causes you pain or pleasure, so that the former may quickly end and the latter long continue. "
73 " Nor should we lose heart if something doesn’t please someone, for there’ll always be someone else it does. "
74 " To be of use and to know how to show yourself of use, is to be twice as useful. "
75 " Be extraordinary in your excellence, if you like, but be ordinary in your display of it. "
76 " There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one. "
77 " At 20 a man is a peacock, at 30 a lion, at 40 a camel, at 50 a serpent, at 60 a dog, at 70 an ape, and at 80 nothing "
78 " Everyone could have been pre-eminent at something, if they had been aware of their best quality. "
79 " 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. "
80 " Some friendships are like a marriage, others like an affair; the latter are for pleasure, the former for the abundant success they engender. Few are friends because of you yourself, many of because of your good fortune. A friend's true understanding is worth more than the many good wishes of others. Make friends by choice, then, not by chance. "