--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sage never seems to know his own…" description: "\"The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.\" — Baltasar Gracian" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/baltasar-gracian-1090_attention_the-sage-never-seems-to-know-his-own-mer_889757.jpg" --- # The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by… ![“The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.” quote by Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/baltasar-gracian-1090_attention_the-sage-never-seems-to-know-his-own-mer_889757.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/baltasar-gracian-1090_attention_the-sage-never-seems-to-know-his-own-mer_889757.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/baltasar-gracian-1090_attention_the-sage-never-seems-to-know-his-own-mer_889757.jpg) > “The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.” [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humility is highlighted by not flaunting one's strengths, allowing others to recognize them naturally. **In simple terms:** Modesty lets others see your worth. Key Takeaway Practice quiet confidence. Themes humility leadership self-awareness Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - team meetings - leadership training - personal branding Key Concepts social perception psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance humility with self‑promotion? - When does modesty hinder progress? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on modesty may cause underrecognition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Modesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modesty/) [Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sage/) ## Related quotes > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-for-as-it/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Throughout the early and mid-1990s, the Clinton administration debated the merits of paying for AIDS testing and counseling of vulnerable populations overseas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/throughout-the-early-and-mid-1990s-the-clinton-administration-debated/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [I've never compromised who I am not ever. If I've gotten anywhere in my life it's been on my own merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cher/i-ve-never-compromised-who-i-am-not-ever-if-i-ve-gotten-anywhere-in/) [Cher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cher/) > [Corporate corruption has ecological merits. It's helping to preserve that species known as Democrats - thought to be endangered as recently as the year 2000.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/corporate-corruption-has-ecological-merits-it-s-helping-to-preserve/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [As for pineapple, it's far more versatile than you might think, and certainly merits wider use than in Hawaiian pizzas and pina coladas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/as-for-pineapple-it-s-far-more-versatile-than-you-might-think-and/) [Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/) > [Whatever may be the merits of a religious system, its effects upon the mass of mankind must depend in an important degree upon its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/whatever-may-be-the-merits-of-a-religious-system-its-effects-upon-the/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [None merits the name of Creator but God and the poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torquato-tasso/none-merits-the-name-of-creator-but-god-and-the-poet/) [Torquato Tasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torquato-tasso/) > [“Valys also didn't think I was good enough for him. He made that clear every time he acted like a martyr forced to settle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/valys-also-didn-t-think-i-was-good-enough-for-him-he-made-that-clear/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [“Nature evaluates a character on the basis of its merits, not demerits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/nature-evaluates-a-character-on-the-basis-of-its-merits-not-demerits/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [“You yourself desire rank and standing; then help others to get rank and standing. You want to turn your merits to account; then help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/you-yourself-desire-rank-and-standing-then-help-others-to-get-rank/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Don't look for more honor than your learning merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewish-proverb/don-t-look-for-more-honor-than-your-learning-merits/) Jewish Proverb > [It would be amazing if we were just basically judged on the merits of what we do, but we're not. That's not part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aspen-ladd/it-would-be-amazing-if-we-were-just-basically-judged-on-the-merits-of/) [Aspen Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aspen-ladd/) > [Well, just that there would be somebody in the office and the voters - it was more or less an understanding in the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/well-just-that-there-would-be-somebody-in-the-office-and-the-voters/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [“Merits are not physical but purely moral entities. They live and are revived in the knowledge and accepta tion of God, which cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-pohle/merits-are-not-physical-but-purely-moral-entities-they-live-and-are/) [Joseph Pohle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-pohle/) ## More by Baltasar Gracian > [To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/to-be-at-ease-is-better-than-to-be-at-business-nothing-really-belongs/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [It requires as much to tell the truth as to conceal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-requires-as-much-to-tell-the-truth-as-to-conceal-it/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [There are friendships merely for pleasure, some for the exchange of ideas. Rarest are those friends of one's inmost self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/there-are-friendships-merely-for-pleasure-some-for-the-exchange-of/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [What is not seen is as if it was not. Even the Right does not receive proper consideration if it does not seem right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/what-is-not-seen-is-as-if-it-was-not-even-the-right-does-not-receive/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [What the multitude says, is so, or soon will be so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/what-the-multitude-says-is-so-or-soon-will-be-so/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/a-synonym-is-a-word-you-use-when-you-can-t-spell-the-other-one/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-is-good-to-vary-in-order-that-you-may-frustrate-the-curious/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/hope-has-a-good-memory-gratitude-a-bad-one/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/knowing-how-to-keep-a-friend-is-more-important-than-gaining-a-new-one/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Leave your luck while still winning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/leave-your-luck-while-still-winning/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Superiority is always detested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/superiority-is-always-detested/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [“We have eyelids but not earlids, for the ears are the portals of learning, and Nature wanted to keep them wide open.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/we-have-eyelids-but-not-earlids-for-the-ears-are-the-portals-of/) [Baltasar Gracián](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [The wise persono would rather see others needing him than thanking him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/the-wise-persono-would-rather-see-others-needing-him-than-thanking-him/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/no-one-demands-more-caution-than-a-spy-and-when-someone-has-the/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Keep the extent of your abilities unknown.The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/keep-the-extent-of-your-abilities-unknown-the-wise-man-does-not-allow/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) [Explore all 288 Baltasar Gracian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. 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And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. 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