The art of undertaking things. Fools rush in through the door—for folly is always bold. The same simplicity that robs them of all attention to caution deprives them of all sense of shame at failure, But prudence enters with more deliberation. Its forerunners are caution and care; they advance and discover whether you can also advance without danger. Every rush forward might have been freed from danger by caution, but fortune sometimes helps in such cases. Go cautiously where you suspect depth. Sagacity goes cautiously forward while discretion covers the ground. Nowadays there are unsuspected depths in human intercourse, you mush therefore plumb the waters as you go.

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