The greatest wisdom often consists in ignorance.

Never participate in the secrets of those above you; you think you share the fruit, and you share the stones – the confidence of a prince is not a grant, but a tax

True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.

There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.

When desire dies, fear is born.

Have friends. ‘Tis a second existence.

Señal de tener gastada la fama propia es cuidar de la infamia ajena.

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

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.

The passions are the humors of the mind, and the least excess sickens our judgment. If the disease spreads to the mouth, your reputation will be in danger.

Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.

He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.

Knowledge and courage take turns at greatness.

We live by information, not by sight

No’ and ‘Yes’ are words quickly said, but they need a great amount of thought before you utter them.

A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity

Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.

The best skill at cards is knowing when to discard.

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.

Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself.

Be content to act, and leave the talking to others

Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.

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

The more merit, the less affection

The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.

Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.

Don’t take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.

A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a ‘No,’ sweetens truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself.

Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art.

Say farewell to luck when winning. It is the way of the gamblers of reputation. Quite as important as a gallant advance is a well-planned retreat. Lock up your winnings when they are enough, or...

Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation depends more on...

Quit while you’re ahead. All the best gamblers do.

Truth always lags last, limping along on the arm of Time

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.

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

Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone

One half the world laughs at the other, and fools are they all

Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.

To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.

Yes and No are soon said, but give much to think over

One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity.

One should cultivate good habits of memory, for it is capable of making existence a Paradise or an Inferno.

Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.

A weak spirit does more harm than a weak body.

Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.

It requires as much caution to tell the truth as to conceal it.

Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand

He who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold.

Nature often lets us down when we most need her; let us turn to art.

One deceit needs many others, and so the whole house is built in the air and must soon come to the ground