Daily Inspiration Quote by Baltasar Gracian

Bad news has better legs than praise because it flatters our ugliest instincts: suspicion, self-protection, the thrill of shared alarm. Gracian, a Jesuit-trained court thinker writing in Spain’s baroque age of reputation politics, isn’t moralizing about gossip so much as diagnosing an information economy built on fear. Applause is optional; an “evil report” feels actionable. It claims to warn you. It implies you’re in the know. It turns listeners into accomplices.

The line works because it treats speech like physics. “Carries further” isn’t a metaphor about feelings; it’s a model of social transmission. Praise tends to be tethered to a moment and a room: it asks for generosity, attention, maybe even risk. Slander travels light. It can be repeated without proof, and it gains credibility through repetition itself. Gracian’s clinical phrasing also slyly removes the speaker from blame: he’s not telling you to spread rumors, only noting that rumors spread. That rhetorical distance is part of the subtext: in court culture, innocence is often a pose, and survival depends on understanding how narratives move.

The intent is strategic. Gracian’s work is packed with maxims meant for navigating institutions where status is fragile and enemies are bored. He’s warning that reputations are asymmetrically vulnerable: one sharp accusation can outweigh a dozen demonstrations of virtue. Read now, the line feels less like an antique aphorism than a bleak preview of virality. Outrage scales; nuance doesn’t. Applause requires a stage. An evil report only needs a whisper.