To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
[Cuesta a veces muy poco el obligar, y vale mucho.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 226 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:Sometime the care of engaging costs but very little, and is worth a great deal.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]To be obliging usually costs but little; yet it is worth much.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]Pleasing others costs little and is worth much.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Quotations about:
graciousness
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