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The staleness of custom weakens admiration, and a mediocrity that's new often eclipses the highest excellence grown old.

— Baltasar Gracián The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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Notes from Wikiquote

tr. Christopher Maurer (1992).

Variants

Custom wears down our admiration, and a mediocre novelty can conquer the greatest eminence in its old age.

More quotes by Baltasar Gracián

Politeness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.

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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.

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Some marry the first information they receive, and turn what comes later into their concubine. Since deceit is always first to arrive, there is no room left for truth.

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The one rule for pleasing: whet the appetite, keep people hungry.

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If you cannot make knowledge your servant, make it your friend.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Baltasar Gracián (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.