Baltasar Gracián

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.

A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.

He who cannot find himself the retreat of his own soul, let him appeal to solitude — if he can even bear himself.

The things we remember best are those better forgotten.

Virtue is serious business; everything else is farce.

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.

Know how to refuse. One ought not to give way in everything nor to everybody.