TheArtWorldlyWisdom

The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Baltasar Gracian)

  • Great work!
  • Mix a little mystery with everything
  • A resolution declared in sever highly thought of, it only leaves room for criticism.
  • Knowledge without courage is sterile (See Be the good)
  • Create a feeling of dependence: Mores is to be got from dependence than from courtesy.
  • There is no rule higher than that over oneself, over ones impulses
  • Cultivate those who can teach you. Reap applause for what you say, gain instruction from what you hear.
  • A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice
  • Be spotless. A single cloud can hide the whole of the sun.
  • Know how to take a hint. The truths which concern us most can only be half spoken, but with attention we can grasp then whole meaning. When you hear something favorable be skeptical. When you hear something unfavorable follow up.
  • Excellence in quality not quantity, much lowers value. Those who attempt to be at home everywhere are so nowhere.
  • The smallest of current trump beats the ace of trumps last hand.
  • Know your strongest points, your preeminent gift. Cultivate that and the rest will follow.
  • Think things over, most over the most important. The wise man thinks over everything, but more profoundly where there is profound difficulty and thinks that perhaps there is more to it than he thinks.
  • Recognize when things are ripe, and enjoy them.
  • Never exaggerate, its a branch of lying
  • Think with the few, speak with the many.
  • The wise man retires into silence and if he comes out of it he does so in the shade and before few and fit people.
  • Be thorough (Deserve the things you want)
  • Let your own standard of truth and righteousness be the standard.
  • Know how to choose well.
  • First you must be master over yourself if you would be master over others
  • Excel in what is excellent.
  • Neither give nor take bad news if unless you can't help it.
  • Elevate Taste: You can train taste like the intellect. Full knowledge whets desire, increases enjoyment.
  • Most things are not obtained simply because they are not attempted (See Be the good)
  • Self knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement
  • Know how to refuse: its as important to know how to consent. A gilded no is more satisfactory than a dreary yes.
  • Bad execution of your designs does less harm than irresolution in forming them
  • Choose a heroic ideal: have a hero, not so much to follow as to spur you on into action.
  • Notice men's moods and adapt yourself to each.
  • Pushed to the extreme right becomes wrong. (Diminishing (negative) returns)
  • Wise men get more use from their enemies than fools get from their friends. Their enemies ill-will often levels mountains.
  • Let your behaviour be fine and noble: Most things must be left unnoticed among friends, relatives and even enemies.
  • Know yourself: In talents and capacity, in judgement and inclination. There are mirrors for the face, but none for the mind. Let careful thought (meditation) and discussion among friends serve as a substitute.
  • Dont not let your fortune on a single cast of the die. (Systems not Goals)
  • Obtain and preserve a reputation.
  • Dignity: True kingship lies in spotless rectitude and he need to envy greatness who can serve as a model for it. Prefer to share in the qualities of royalty rather than take part in mere ceremony.
  • Good things when short are twice as good. (Well said is soon said)
  • By joining extremes the more effective middle way is found.
  • Only act with honourable men. Dis-honorable ones are not constrained by virtue
  • Acquire the reputation of Courtesy: It is enough to make you liked. Politeness is the main ingredient in culture - a kind of witchery that wins the regard of all as surely as discourtesy gain their disfavor and opposition. It costs little and helps much. Everyone is honored who gives honor. Politeness and honor have the advantage that they stay with those who give them to others.
  • It is preposterous to take to heart that which should ignore. Much that would be something has become nothing by being left alone, and what was nothing has become of consequence by being made much of. Often the remedy causes the disease. It is my no means the least of life's rules: to let things alone.
  • He is twice great who has all the perfections in the opinion of all except himself. He attains applause by two opposite paths.
  • Learn to forget: (See perfection not required, especially in others)
  • Never Complain: to complain always brings discredit.
  • Do and be seen doing: things do not pass for what they are but for what they seem. The observant are far fewer in number than the easily deceived by appearances. A good exterior is the best recommendation for inner perfection.
  • Revise your judgements (See feedback loop critical)
  • Do not nourish the spirit of contradiction. Finding problems in everything shows you're clever, but marks you a fool. Do not make war out of pleasant conversation.
  • Find the good in a thing at once: There is nothing that has no good in it. Better to seize upon a single beauty out of 1000 defects.
  • Never from Obstinacy take the wrong side because your opponent has anticipated you in taking the right one. The sage never places himself on the side of passion but exposes the cause of right.
  • Never become paradoxical in order to avoid the trite. (DFW!) Both extremes damage our reputation. Every undertaking which differs from the reasonable approaches foolishness.
  • Do not show your wounded finger. Ill will searches for wounds to irritate.
  • Have the art of conversation. No act in life requires more attention. You must either lose or gain by it. If it needs care to write a letter (which is after all just deliberate conversation) how much more for ordinary conversation in which there is occasion for a prompt display of intelligence.
  • Think before hand. Better to sleep on something before than to lie away about it after.
  • The whole of life should be one course of thought how not to miss the right path. Rumination and foresight enable one to determine the lie of life.
  • The art of NOT getting into a passion: The first step to getting into a passion is to announce that you are in a passion. It is great proof of wisdom to remain clear-sighted during paroxysms of rage. Every excess of passion is a digression from rational conduct. To keep control of passion one must hold firm the reins of attention.x
  • Select your friends. Intelligence brings friends to some, chance to most.
  • Dont make mistakes of/about character. "Better to be cheated on the price than in the quality of the goods"
  • Be careful in speaking. There is always time to add a word, never to withdrawal one. Talk as if you were making your will, the fewer words the less litigation.
  • All deformity of mind is more obnoxious than that of body because it contravenes a higher beauty.
  • Be more careful not to miss once than to hit 1000 times. ("Dont give a bad talk") No one looks at the blazing sun, all gaze when he is eclipsed.
  • Many would be wise if they did not think themselves wise. The oracles of wisdom are rare, they are rarely used. To seek advice does not lessen greatness or argue incapacity.
  • Trust your heart. Never deny it a hearing. It is a kind of oracle that often foretells the most important.
  • Be a solid man: "Only truth can give a true reputation"
  • You must moderate your opinion of others so you dont fear them. (Many appear great until you know them personally)
  • Do not hold your views too firmly. Every fool is fully convinced and every fully persuaded is a fool. Steadfastness should be for the will not the mind.
  • Do not be ceremonious: Its right to demand respect, but not to be seen as master of ceremonies. "He cannot be great who is great at such little things"
  • Do pleasant things yourself, do unpleasant things through others. A great man takes more pleasure in doing a favor than in receiving one.
  • Be the bearer of praise: This shows we have learned what is excellent. Gives material for conversation.
  • Know how to appreciate: Wise men appreciate all men, for they see the good in each and know how hard it is to make anything good.
  • Find a proper place by merit, not presumption. "Deserve what you want"
  • Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, difficult tasks as if they were easy (Systems, not goals)
  • Be Moderate: Moderation serves as a counter point to the impulses of passions (emotions) especially in sudden emergencies. Much thought is needed to prevent emotion from taking over.
  • Do not turn one blunder into two. The worst of a bad case is having to fight it.
  • Be expressive: without cleverness the children of the mind (thought and judgements) cannot be brought into the world.
  • Never act form stubbornness but from knowledge. All stubbornness is an outgrowth of the mind, a grandchild of emotion which never did do anything right. There are people that make war out of everything. Dont do that.
  • Sincerity should not degrade into simplicity, nor sagacity into cunning.
  • Never take anything against the grain. Everything has a smooth or a seamy side. Many things cause pain which should cause pleasure if you regarded their advantages.
  • Do not be the slave of first impressions. Dont satisfy your will with the first object nor your mind with the first preposition. Wait for the 3rd or 4th edition of the news.
  • Plan your life wisely, with prudence and foresight.
  • The very wise are generally easily deceived, for while they know esoterica they do not know the ordinary things of life. Of what use is knowledge if it is not practical? To know how to live is true knowledge.
  • Know a little more, live a little less. To be at ease is better than to be at business. All we have is time. It is unfortunate to waste your precious life in both mechanical or important work.
  • Many men do not esteem what they understand and venerate what they do not see. Many praise a thing without being able to say why if asked.
  • Few can do us good, almost any can do us harm.
  • Be able to forget: Memory is unruly and stupid. It leaves us in lurch when needed and puts its nose into places its not wanted. Cultivate good habits of memory, it can make life heaven or hell.
  • Have a touch of the trader: The very wise are generally easily deceived, for while why exotica, they do not know the ordinary things of life. Of what use is knowledge if it is not practical? To know how to live is true knowledge.
  • Do not condemn alone that which pleases all. There must be good in a thing that pleases so many. If you cannot find the good look. Bad taste springs from want of knowledge.
  • In all things if you know little, stick to the safest. To know little and seek danger is to seek ruin. "Security is schrewder than singularity".
  • Beware of the gossip; He is either a blabber or a spy.
  • Find favor with men of sense: The tepid yes of remarkable men is worth more than all the applause of the vulgar. Even monarchs need authors and fear their pens more than ugly women the camera.
  • Never act from emotion: If you do all is lost. You cannot act for yourself if you are not yourself. Emotion/Passion drives out reason. You need to interpose a prudent go-between who keeps cool. As soon as you notice you are losing your temper, beat a wise retreat.
  • Live for the moment, not by certain fixed rules, except those of cardinal virtues. The wise man knows that prudence lies in steering by the wind. (BJJ)
  • More important to know men than to know minerals.
  • Aspire to be a hero than merely appear to be one.
  • Always act as if you were seen.

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