Virtue alone is for real; all else is sham. Talent and greatness depend on virtue, not on fortune. Only virtue is sufficient unto herself. She makes us love the living and remember the dead.
• Maxim 300 (p. 168)
• Maxim 300 (p. 168)
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La virtud es cosa de veras, todo lo demás de burlas. La capacidad y grandeza se ha de medir por la virtud, no por la fortuna. Ella sola se basta a sí misma. Vivo el hombre, le haze amable; y muerto, memorable.
— Baltasar Gracián
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "La virtud es cosa de veras, todo lo demás de burlas. La capacidad y grandeza se ha de medir por la virtud, no por la fortuna. Ella sola se basta a sí misma. Vivo el hombre, le haze amable; y muerto, memorable." in the context of "Virtue alone is for real; all else is sham. Talent and greatness depend on virtue, not on fortune. Only virtue is sufficient unto herself. She makes us love the living and remember the dead.
• Maxim 300 (p. 168)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Baltasar Gracián" (Quotes, The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647): Oráculo manual y arte de prudencia, the title of which has been translated, as The Oracle, a Manual of the Art of Discretion and The Art of Worldly Wisdom, was a collection of maxims. Page numbers provided here are from The Art of Worldly Wisdom: A Pocket Oracle (1992), translated by Christopher Maurer,
See also Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Baltasar Gracián
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (8 January 1601 – 6 December 1658), most widely known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit author regarded as one of the most accomplished prose stylists of the Baroque era.
About Baltasar Gracián
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (8 January 1601 – 6 December 1658), most widely known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit author regarded as one of the most accomplished prose stylists of the Baroque era.
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