“Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.”
Baltasar Gracián book The Art of Worldly Wisdom
Saberlos conservar es más que el hazerlos amigos.
Maxim 158 (p. 90)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
Source: Only the Good Spy Young
“Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.”
Baltasar Gracián book The Art of Worldly Wisdom
Saberlos conservar es más que el hazerlos amigos.
Maxim 158 (p. 90)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
Dean Koontz book Life Expectancy
Source: Life Expectancy (2004), Chapter 36; conversation between Lorrie Lynn Hicks and Jimmy Tock
“The great secret of power is never to will to do more than you can accomplish.”
Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet
As quoted in The Ibsen Calendar : A Quotation from the Works of Henrik Ibsen for Every Day (1913) by C. A. Arfwedson
Context: The great secret of power is never to will to do more than you can accomplish. The great secret of action and victory is to be capable of living your life without ideals. Such is the sum of the whole world's wisdom.
Niccolo Machiavelli book The Art of War
Book 7; Variant translation: No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than in knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity when it is offered.
Few men are brave by nature, but good discipline and experience make many so.
Good order and discipline in an army are more to be depended upon than ferocity.
As translated by Neal Wood (1965)
The Art of War (1520)
Context: No proceeding is better than that which you have concealed from the enemy until the time you have executed it. To know how to recognize an opportunity in war, and take it, benefits you more than anything else. Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many. Discipline in war counts more than fury.
“It is wonderful how well men can keep secrets they have not been told.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Leonard E. Read (1898–1983) American academic
Leonard Read Journals, November 11, 1951 https://history.fee.org/leonard-read-journal/1951/leonard-e-read-journal-november-1951/