Think with the few and speak with the many. Swimming against the stream makes it impossible to remove error and easy to fall into danger—only a Socrates can undertake it. To dissent from others' views is regarded as an insult, because it is a condemnation of their judgment. The offense is doubled on account of the judgment condemned and of the person who championed it. Truth is for the few, error is both common and vulgar. The wis person is not known by whatr he says on the public square, for there he speaks not with his own voice but with that of common folly, however much his inmost thoughts may deny it. The prudent person avoids being contradicted as much as he avoids contradicting others—though they have their judgement ready they are not ready to publish it. Thought is free, force cannot and should not be used on it. The wise person therefore retires into silence and if he allows himself to come out of it, he does so in the shade and before few and fit persons.

THE ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM BY BALTHASAR GRACIAN
TRANSLATED BY JOSEPH JACOBS 1892