What does a superior mind matter, if the heart does not match it?
1636
Source: The Hero
Baltasar Gracián
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (8 January 1601 – 6 December 1658) was a Spanish Jesuit prose writer and philosopher. He was one of the leading Spanish writers of the Baroque period. His most famous work is The Art of Worldly Wisdom.
The mind thinks and arranges at little cost what costs the heart infinitely to implement.
1636
Source: The Hero
Often the wisest advice [...] comes to nothing for lack of courage when it comes to execution.
1636
Source: The Hero
Extraordinary actions can only come from a heart that is also extraordinary.
1636
Source: The Hero
[A heroic heart] wanted no middle ground between All or Nothing.
1636
Source: The Hero
The food that would satisfy a dwarf [...] would only whet the appetite of a giant.
1636
Source: The Hero
A great heart, far from being puffed up by the most astonishing successes, constantly sighs for more.
1636
Source: The Hero
Far from feasting on acquired glory, [a great heart] forgets it to always seek a new one.
1636
Source: The Hero
I appeal to my courage and my sword.
1636
Source: The Hero
A hero never appears greater than in circumstances capable of obscuring the glory of anyone other than himself.
1636
Source: The Hero
In these perilous encounters, courage is a good escort.
1636
Source: The Hero
A good [leader] never has weapons that are too short; what they lack in length, their bravery knows how to supplement.
1636
Source: The Hero
The decisive test of a heroic heart is when it is free to take revenge on an enemy at will.
1636
Source: The Hero
Instead of revenge [...], [the heroic heart] forgives an unjust hatred, and [...] even returns good for evil.
1636
Source: The Hero
You are going astray, this is the way to go.
1636
Source: The Hero
It takes great qualities to make a hero.
1636
Source: The Hero
In man, the most elevated thing is a vast and luminous intelligence, the principle of his best-conducted operations [...].
1636
Source: The Hero
A solid and sure judgment, and a spirit all of fire, are [...] qualities that attract the name of prodigy to the man in whom they are united.
1636
Source: The Hero
The harmony of these two attributes [judgment and spirit] is essential for great men, to provide them with [...] resources that are both certain and prompt.
1636
Source: The Hero
This multiplication of ideas only produces obscurity, and serves only to make one lose sight of the main object.
1636
Source: The Hero
It is perhaps no less difficult to define than it is rare to possess a gift of this nature [the fiery spirit].
1636
Source: The Hero
[Witty remarks and bold actions] have often been like wings to suddenly reach the summit of greatness.
1636
Source: The Hero
If quickness of mind alone should not command in chief, it can at least command in second.
1636
Source: The Hero
A quick mind is [...] like the salt and the charm of all beautiful qualities; and with regard to great perfections, it is like their brilliance.
1636
Source: The Hero
Immense treasures [...] have dissipated and vanished, but fame has collected and preserved the witty words they have spoken.
1636
Source: The Hero
For how many great captains have iron and fire sometimes succeeded less than a cleverly placed witticism?
1636
Source: The Hero
[A quick mind] is [...] the torch that illuminates in doubt, [...] the thread of Ariadne with which one can exit a labyrinth of the most entangled affairs.
1636
Source: The Hero
One must save the sharpness and brilliance of the mind for subjects that deserve it, just as the lion reserves its efforts for dangers worthy of it.
1636
Source: The Hero
As they spare no one, so no one spares them; and were they at the height of elevation, the last of men will believe himself entitled to strike at them.
1636
Source: The Hero
Although a happy quickness of mind is a gift of nature, art can nevertheless help and perfect it.
1636
Source: The Hero
Everything can change its appearance in this world, because everything is subject to growth and decline.
1636
Source: The Hero
It is the mark of a wise man to anticipate these declines [...] without waiting for his turn to experience them abruptly.
1636
Source: The Hero
Prosperity [...] is but a fleeting state: it is a kind of game [...] where the most skillful is the one who knows when to quit while they're ahead.
1636
Source: The Hero
Is it not better to break with fortune at the right time, than to be struck by an unforeseen blow that throws one from the top of the wheel?
1636
Source: The Hero
A beautiful retreat in war brings as much honor as a proud attack.
1636
Source: The Hero
The habit of success is so flattering that most people always aspire to new successes [...], like those with dropsy who cannot quench their thirst.
1636
Source: The Hero
Through his abdication, Charles V in turn rose above fortune.
1636
Source: The Hero
How common it is for a happy man to deceive himself about the immutability of his happiness!
1636
Source: The Hero
No one has yet found the art [...] of taking fortune's pulse and reliably discovering its impending ill will towards us.
1636
Source: The Hero
A hasty prosperity followed by rapid successes is usually suspect and threatens a prompt change.
1636
Source: The Hero
Another sign of a prosperity nearing its end is its long duration: fortune grows old [...] with the years, as we do.
1636
Source: The Hero
Adversity [...] is close to a good outcome when it becomes extreme.
1636
Source: The Hero
The fortunate [...] feel adversity much more keenly than those who have already experienced it.
1636
Source: The Hero
Fortune deals with men like a privateer who waits for a ship to be loaded with all its goods before seizing it.
1636
Source: The Hero
Before the storm is formed, one must relentlessly reach the port.
1636
Source: The Hero
The art [...] that no one can mark the limits of your capacity will remain [...] fruitless if you do not add to it the art of hiding the affections of your heart.
1636
Source: The Hero
Although a passion, for being secret, is no less a passion, [...] it matters greatly to know how to make a mystery of it.
1636
Source: The Hero
[...] heroism [...] receives a mortal blow only when [its] weaknesses are declared.
1636
Source: The Hero
Those who show themselves to be slaves of a passion degrade themselves in the eyes of the wise; and those who know how to cover it up escape this discredit.
1636
Source: The Hero
It is the masterpiece of insight to understand another's heart; it is also the ultimate effort of self-mastery to keep one's own heart unknown to the most skilled scrutineers.
1636
Source: The Hero
There is no difference between letting one's passion be seen, and lending certain weapons for others to make themselves our master.
1636
Source: The Hero
The inclinations of the heart are like sure paths; as soon as they are known, everything is paved, everything is open to take possession.
1636
Source: The Hero
What did it serve him to have conquered an entire world, since he lost the privilege of great men, which is to know how to command oneself.
1636
Source: The Hero
The two main pitfalls of heroism are unbridled anger and unrestrained greed: that is where reputation commonly runs aground.
1636
Source: The Hero
An outburst, escaped in certain moments, can put the hero on the same level as the common man; it can even put the latter above the former.
1636
Source: The Hero
I call a fool the one who, having committed a folly, does not have the wit and care to smother it on the spot.
1636
Source: The Hero
This skill of promptly distracting others' attention and taking away their leisure to reflect on a fault is not the mark of a mediocre mind.
1636
Source: The Hero
With regard to great faults, one does not suppress the knowledge of them; one only suspends it for a time.
1636
Source: The Hero
At whatever price, one must subdue the affections of one's heart, [...] if one aspires to heroism.
1636
Source: The Hero
Some are born virtuous, it is true; but care, reflection, and effort can give to others what nature has denied them.
1636
Source: The Hero