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THE ART
OF
WORLDLY WISDOM
iluf bcs (SIucFcs grower IPaagc 5tctjt bic gunge felten etn, Du mu§t jleigen ober ftnfen, Du mu§t tjcrrfd^cn unb geroinnen, ®ber bienen unb ocrlieren, Ceiben ober triunipl^iren, 2lmbo§ ober jammer fein,
Goethe, Ein Kophtisches Lied.
When you are an anvil, Md you still. When you are a hammer, strike your Jill,
G. Herbert, Jacula Prudentum.
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THE ART
WORLDLY WISDOM
BY
BALTHASAR GRACIAN
TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY
JOSEPH JACOBS
Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of History, Madrid
3L0ntJ0n MACMILLAN AND CO:, Limited
NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN *COMPANy 1904
A'il rights j-eservec?
43
9of
First Edition 1892 Reprinted 1904
TO MRS. G. H. LEWIS
Dear Mrs. Lewis,
This little book were not worthy of being associated with your name^ did it not offer an ideal of life at once refined and practical, cultured yet wisely energetic. Gracian points to noble aims, and proposes, on the whole, no ignoble means of attaining to them. The Spanish Jesuit sees clear, but he looks upward.
There is, however, one side of life to which he is entirely blind, as was perhaps natural in an ecclesiastic writing before the Age of Salons. He nowhere makes mention in his pages of the gracious influence of Woman as Inspirer and Consoler in the Battle of Life. Permit me to repair this omission by placing your name in the forefront of this English version of his maxims. To those honoured with your friendship this will by itself suffice to recall all the ennobling associa- tions connected with your sex.
Believe me, dear Mrs. Lewis, Yours most sincerely,
JOSEPH JACOBS.
KiLBURN, zdth October 1892.
a
PREFACE
My attention was first drawn to the Oraculo Manual by Mr. (now Sir Mountstuart) Grant DufF's admirable article on BalthasarGracian in the Fortnightly ^^£/zm of March 1877. I soon after obtained a copy of Schopenhauer's excel- lent version, and during a journey in Spain I procured with some difficulty a villainously printed edition of Gracian's works (Barcelona, 1734, "Por Joseph Giralt"), which contains the Oraculo Manual towards the end of the first volume (pp. 431-494).
I have translated from this last, referring in the many doubtful places of its text to the first Madrid edition of 1653, the earliest in the British Museum. I have thoroughout had Schopenhauer's version by my side, and have
VIU ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
found it, as Sir Mountstuart Grant DufF says, " a most finished piece of work," though I have pointed out in the Notes a few cases where he has failed, in my opinion, to give Gracian's meaning completely or correctly. I have little doubt that I am a fellow-sinner in this regard : I know no prose style that offers such difficulty to a translator as Gracian's laconic and artificial epigrams. It is not with- out reason that he has been called the Intra- ducible. The two earlier English versions miss his points time after time, and I found it useless to refer to them. On the other hand, I have ventured to adopt some of Sir Mount- stuart Grant Duff's often very happy renderings in the extracts contained in his Fortnightly article.
I have endeavoured to reproduce Gracian's Laconism and Cultismo in my version, and have even tried to retain his many paronomasias and jingles of similar sound. I may have here and there introduced others of my own to redress the balance for cases where I found it impossible to produce the same effect in English. In such cases I generally give the
PREFACE IX
original in the Notes. Wherever possible I have replaced Spanish proverbs and proverbial phrases by English ones, and have throughout tried to preserve the characteristic rhythm and brevity of the Proverb. In short, if I may venture to say so, I have approached my task rather in the spirit of Fitzgerald than of Bohn.
The gem on the title, representing a votive offering to Hermes, the god of Worldly Wisdom, is from a fine paste in the British Museum of the best period of Greek glyptic art. I have to thank Mr. Cecil Smith of that Institution for kind advice in the selection.
Let me conclude these prefatory words with a piece of advice as oracular as my original : When reading this little book for the first time, read only fifty maxims and then stop for the day.
JOSEPH JACOBS.
a 2
TESTIMONIA
II est si concis si rompu et si estrangement coupe qu'il semble qu'il ait pris I'obscurite a tasche : aussi le Lecteur a besoin d'en deuiner le sens & souvent quand il I'a compris il trouve qu'il s'est estudie a faire une 6nigme d'une chose fort commune.
F. VAN Aerssens, Voyage (TEspagne, 1667, p. 294.
II a beaucoup d'elevation, de subtilite, de force et meme de bon sens : mais on ne sait le plus souvent ce qu'il veut dire, et il ne le sait pas peut-etre lui-meme. ^uelques-uns de ses Ouvrages ne semblent etre fait, que pour n'etre point entendus.
Bouhour's Entretiem d'Arute et eT Eugene, 167 1, p. 203.
Luha de Padilla, a Lady of great Learning, and Countess of Aratida, was in like manner angry with the famous Gratian upon his publishing his Treatise of the Discrete, wherein she fancied that he had laid open those Maxims to common Readers, which ought only to be reserved for the knowledge of the Great. These Objections are thought by many of so much weight that they often defend
Xll ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
the above -mention'd Authors by affirming they have affected such an Obscurity in their Style and Manner of Writing, that tho' every one may read their Works there will be but very few who can comprehend their Meaning. The Spectator^ No. 379 (1712).
En cherchant toujours I'dnergie et le sublime il devient outre et se perd dans les mots. Gracian est aux bons moralistes ce que Don guichotte est aux vrais heros. lis ont I'un et I'autre un faux air de grandeur qui en impose aux sots et qui fait rire les sages.
Abbe Desfontaines, 1745. Que de elogios no se deben al autor del Criticon ! En medio de las antitesis, paronomasias y toda la metralla culta es una de las obras mas recomendables de nuestra literatura por la felicidad de la invencion, la inagotable riqueza de imaginacion y de sales, por la viveza de sus pinturas y por la gracia, soltura y naturalidad del estilo.
Don Manuel Silvela, Biblioteca selecta de literatura espanola (1819).
Si hubiese Gracian procedido con mas sobriedad en el uso de estos juegos y conceptos { qual es el escritor de su tiempo de tantos dotes y caudal nativo para ser el mas fecondo y elegante, sabiendo, como lo manifesto, en donde estaban las delicadezas y los donaires, esto es, lo amargo, lo dulce, lo picante, lo salado de la lengua castellana ?
Don Antonio Capmany, Teatro de la elocuencia espanola^ tomo v.
The Ordculo Manual has been more used than any other of the author's works. It is intended to be a collection of maxims of general utility, but it exhibits good and bad precepts, sound judgments, and refined sophisms, all con- founded together. In this work Gracian has not forgotten
I
TESTIMONIA Xlll
to inculcate his practical principles of Jesuitism to be all things to all men (" hacerse a todos "), nor to recommend his favourite maxim, " to be common in nothing " (" en nada vulgar "), which, in order to be valid, would require a totally different interpretation from that which he has given it. Bouterwek.
The person, however, who settled the character of culthmo and in some respects gave it an air of philosoph- ical pretension, was Baltazar Gracian, a Jesuit of Aragon, who lived between 1601 and 1658, exactly the period when the cultivated style took possession of Spanish prose and rose to its greatest consideration.
G. TicKNOR, History of Span. Lit. iii. 222.
Dabei ist es das Einzige seiner Art und nie ein anderes iiber denselben Gegenstand geschrieben worden j denn nur ein Individuum aus der feinsten aller Nationen, der spanischen, konnte es versuchen. . . . Dasselbe lehrt die Kunst derer AUesichbefliessigenund istdaherfiir Jedermann. Besonders aber ist es geeignet das Handbuch aller derer zu werden, die in der grossen Welt leben, ganz vorziiglich aber junger Leute, die ihr Gliick darin zu machen bemiiht sind und denen es mit Einem Mai und zum Voraus die Belehrung giebt die sie sonst erst durch lange Erfahrung erhalten.
A. Schopenhauer, Litterarische Notiz -vor seiner UebersetTiung (183 1, published 1861).
Avec beaucoup d 'esprit, d 'instruction & de facility il n'a rien produit qui puisse aujourd'hui soutenir I'examen de la critique la plus impartiale.
PuiBUsquE, Histoire compare e des litter atures espagnole etfran^aise, 1843, i. p. 559.
Gracian aurait pu etre un excellent ecrivain s'il n'avait pas voulu devenir un ecrivain extraordinaire, Doue d'une
XIV ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
vaste erudition, d'un esprit fin, d'un talent profond d'observation, il etait n6 pour 6clairer son siecle } mais la vanite de devenir novateur corrompit son gout, en le port- ant a introduire dans la prose ce langage precieux, ces expressions alambiqu^es que Gongora avait introduit dans les vers.
A. DE Backer, Bibliotheque des ecrl-vaim de la Compagnie de Jesus, 1869, s.v. Gracian.
Asi como las maximas de Antonio Perez fueron muy populares entre cortesanos 6 doctos 6 ilustrados, asi espanoles como extranjeros, por aquella delicadeza especial de estilo, las del Padre Baltasar Gracian alcanzaron la misma estima por ese atildamiento en el decir : atildamiento que tenia en si un inexplicable atractivo, y que aunque algo partlcipaba del general culteranismo de la literatura espanola en aquel siglo, encerraba cierto buen gusto deslum- brador y lisonjero para el lector que se profundisimos conceptos preciaba con la fuerza de su ingenio aquellos.
Don Adolfo de Castro, Obras escogidas de Filo- iofia, 1873, p. cviii.
Taking the book, as a guide, especially for those who intend to enter public life, I have never chanced to meet with anything which seemed to me even distantly to ap- proach it ... It would possibly be rather difficult to dis- prove the thesis that the Spanish nation has produced the best maxims of practical wisdom, the best proverb, the best epitaph, and the best motto in the world. If I had to sustain it, I would point with reference to the first head to the Oraculo Manual.
Sir M. E. Grant Duff on " Balthasar Gracian " in Fortnightly Re-view, March 1877.
TESTIMONIA XV
Some have found light in the sayings of Balthasar Gracian, a Spaniard who flourished at the end of the seventeenth century. ... I do not myself find Gracian much of a companion, though some of his aphorisms give a neat turn to a commonplace.
J. MoRLEY on "Aphorisms," Studies, 1891, p. 86.
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INTRODUCTION
I 2Df 98alt^a0ar (Sracian antJ i)i0 WiotH
We may certainly say of Gracian what Heine by an amiable fiction said of himself : he was one of the first men of his century. For he was born 8th January 1601 N.S.^ atBelmonte,a suburb of Calatayud,in the kingdom of Aragon. Calatayud, properly Kalat Ayoub, "Job's Town," is nearly on the site of- the ancient Bilbilis, Martial's birthplace. As its name indicates, it was one of the Moorish settle- ments, and nearly one of the most northern. By Gracian's time it had again been Christian and Spanish for many generations, and Gracian himself was of noble birth. For a Spaniard of
^ The ordinary authorities vary between 1594 and 1604. I follow Latassa y Ortin, B'tblioteca nueva de los escritores Aragoneses, Pamplona, 1799, iii. 267 seq., practically the only original source for Gracian's life and works.
XVlll ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
noble birth only two careers were open, arms and the Church. In the seventeenth century arms had yielded to the cassock, and Balthasar and his three brothers all took orders. Felipe, his eldest, joined the order of St. Francis ; the next brother, Pedro, became a Trinitarian dur- ing his short life ; and the third, Raymundo, became a Carmelite.^ Balthasar himself tells us {jigudeza, c. xxv.) that he was brought up in the house of his uncle, the licentiate Antonio Gracian, at Toledo, from which we may gather that both his father and his mother, a Morales, died in his early youth. He joined the Com- pany of Jesus in 1619, when in its most flourish- ing state, after the organising genius of Acqua- viva had given solid form to the bold counter- stroke of Loyola to the Protestant Revolution. The Ratio Stuaiorum was just coming into full force, and Gracian was one of the earliest men in Europe to be educated on the system which has dominated the secondary education of Europe almost down to our own days. This point is of some importance, we shall see, in considering Gracian's chief work.
Once enrolled amongthe ranks of the Jesuits, the individual disappears, the Jesuit alone remains. There is scarcely anything to
1 Gracian mentions his brothers in his Agudeza.
INTRODUCTION XIX
record of Gracian's life except that he was a Jesuit, and engaged in teaching what passes with the Order for philosophy and sacred litera- ture, and became ultimately Rector of the Jesuit College at Tarragona. His great friend was Don Vincencio Juan de Lastanosa, a dilettante of the period, who lived at Huesca,andcollected coins, medals, and other archaeological bric-a- brac. Gracian appears to have shared his tastes, for Lastanosa mentions him in his description, of his own cabinet. A long correspondence with him was once extant and seen by Latassa, who gives the dates and places where the letters were written. From these it would seem that Gracian moved about considerably from Madrid to Zarogoza, and thence to Tarragona. From another source we learn that Philip III. often had him to dinner to provide Attic salt to the royal table. He preached, and his sermons were popular. In short, a life of prudent prosperity came to an end when Balthasar Gracian, Rector of the Jesuit College at Tarra- gona, died there 6th December 1658, at the age of nearly fifty-eight years.
Of Gracian's works there is perhaps more to say even while leaving for separate considera- tion that one which is here presented to the English reader and forms his chief claim to
XX ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
attention. Spanish literature was passing into its period of swagger, a period that came to all literatures of modern Europe after the training in classics had given afresh the sense of style. The characteristic of this period in a literature is suitably enough the appearance of "conceits" <^ or elaborate and far-fetched figures of speech. The process began with Antonia Guevara, author of El Libra Aureo, from which, according to some, the English form of the disease known as Euphuism was derived. But it received a futher impetus from the success of the stilo culto of Gongora in poetry.^ Gongorism drove "conceit" to its farthest point : artifi- ciality of diction could go no farther in verse : it was only left for Gracian to apply it to prose.
He did this for the first time in 1630 in his first work, El Heroe, This was published, like most of his other works, by his lifelong friend Lastanosa, and under the name of Lorenzo Gracian, a supposititious brother of Gracian's, who, so far as can be ascertained, never existed. The whole of El Heroe exists, in shortened
1 On Gongora and his relation to Culthmo see Ticknor, Hht. Span. Lit. iii. 18 seq. j also Appendix G, " On the origin of Cultismo." Ticknor is, however, some- what prejuced against any form of Culthmo.
INTRODUCTION XXI
form, in the Oraculo Manual?- The form, however, is so shortened that it would be diffi- cult to recognise the original primores, as they are called, of El Heroe. Yet it is precisely in the curtnessof the sentences that the peculiarity of the stilo culto consists. Generally elaborate metaphor and far-fetched allusions go with long and involved sentences of the periodic type. But with Gracian the aim is as much towards shortness as towards elaboration. The embroidery is rich but the jacket is short, as he himself might have said. As for the subject- matter, the extracts in the Oraculo will suffice to give some notion of the lofty ideal or character presented in El Heroe, the ideal indeed associated in the popular mind with the term hidalgo.
A later book, El Discrete, first published in 1647, gives the counterpoise to El Heroe hj drawing an ideal of the prudent courtier as contrasted with the proud and spotless hidalgo. This too is fully represented in the book before us, but the curtailment is still more marked
1 See Notes to Maxims xxvi, xxxviii, xl, xlii, xliv, Ivi, Ixiii, Ixv, Ixvii, xciv, xcviii, cvi, cxxvii.
'•^ See Notes to Maxims ii, xx, xxii, xxv, xHx, li, liii, Iv, Ivi, lix, Ixix, Ixxi, Ixxvi, Ixxxvii, cxxii, cxxvii, cclxxvii, ccxcv.
xxil ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
than in the case of El Heroe. There is evi- dence that Gracian wrote a similar pair of contrasts, termed respectively El Galante and El Varon Atento^ which were not pub- lished but were incorporated in the Oraculo Manual by Lastanosa. The consequences of this utilisation of contrasts will concern us later.
Reverting to Gracian's works somewhat more in their order, his eloge of Ferdinand, the Magus of Columbus' epoch, need not much detain us. It is stilted and conventional and does not betray lAich historical insight. Gracian's Agudexa y Arte de Ingenio is of more importance and interest as the formal exposition of the critical principles of Cultismo. It is concerned more with verse than prose and represents the Poetics of Gongorism. A curious collection of flowers of rhetoric in Spanish verse could be made from it. Of still more restricted interest is the Comulgador or sacred meditations for holy communion. I do not profess to be a judge of this class of literature, if literature it can be called, but the fact that the book was deemed worthy of an English translation as lately as 1876 seems to show that it still answers the devotional needs of Catholics. It has a personal interest for
INTRODUCTION XXlU
Gracian, as it was the only book of his that appeared under his own name.
There remains only to be considered, besides the Oraculo Manual, Gracian's El Criticon, a work of considerable value and at least historic interest which appeared in the three parts dealing with Youth, Maturity, and Old Age respectively during the years 1650-53. This is a kind of philosophic romance or allegory depicting the education of the human soul. A Spaniard named Critilo is wrecked on St. Helena, and there finds a sort of Man Friday,^ whom he calls Andr^jiio. Andrenio, after learning to communicate with Critilo, gives him a highly elaborate autobiography of his soul from the age of three days or so. They then travel to Spain, where they meet Truth, Valour, Falsehood, and other allegorical females and males, who are labelled by Critilo for Andrenio's benefit in the approved and frigid style of the allegorical teacher. Incidentally, how- ever, the ideals and aspirations of the Spaniard of the seventeenth century are brought out, and from this point of view the book derives
^ It is not impossible that the English translation of The Crit'ick by Rycaut, 168 1, may have suggested the Friday incidents of Robinson Crusoe, which was intended to be a more didactic book than it looks.
XXIV ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
the parallel with the Pilgrim's Progress which Ticknor had made for it.^ It is certainly one of the most characteristic products of Spanish literature, both for style and subject-matter.
Nearly all these works of Gracian were translated into most of the cultured languages of Europe, English not excepted.^ Part of this ecumenical fame was doubtless due to the fact that Gracian was a Jesuit, and brethren of his Order translated the works of one of whom the Order was justly proud. But this explanation cannot altogether account for the wide spread of Gracian's works, and there remains a deposit of genuine ability and literary skill involved in most of the works I have briefly referred to — ability and skill of an entirely obsolete kind nowadays, but holding a rank of their own in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when didacticism was all the rage. It is noteworthy that the Testimonia I have collected for the most part pass over the Oraculo, the only work at which a modern would care to cast a second glance, and go into raptures over El Criticon and its fellows, or the reverse of raptures on
1 Ticknor also suggests that the Criticon was derived from the Euphormion of Barclay, the author of Argenis.
2 See the details in the Bibliographical Appendix to this Introduction.
INTRODUCTION XXV
Graclan's style, which after all was the most striking thing about his works.
That style reaches its greatest perfection in the Oraculo Manual, to which we 'might at once turn but for a preliminary inquiry which it seems worth while to make. It is a book of maxims as distinguished from a book of aphor- isms, and it is worth while for several reasons inquiring into maxims in general and maxim literature in particular before dealing with what is probably the most remarkable specimen of its class.
Before, however, doing this we may close this section of our- introductory remarks by "putting in," as the lawyers say, the Latin inscription given by Latassa from the foot of the portrait of Gracian, which once stood in the Jesuit College at Calatayud, a portrait of which, alas ! no trace can now be found. The lines sum up in sufficiently forcible Latin all that need be known of Balthasar Gracian and his works.
p. BALTHASAR GRACIAN VT lAM AB ORTV EMINERET
IN BELLOMONTE NATVS EST PROPE BILBILIM
CONFINIS MARTIALIS PATRIA PROXIMVS INGENIO,
VT PROFVNDERET ADHVC CHRISTIANAS ARGVTIAS BILBILIS
QVX. PCENE EXHAVSTA VIDEBATVR IN ETHNICIS.
ERGO AVGENS NATALE INGENIVM INNATO ACVMINE SCRIPSIT
r
XXVI ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
ARTEM INGENIl ET ARTE FACIT SCIBILE gvOD SClBILES FACIT
ARTES. SCRIPSIT ITEM ARTEM PRVDENTIAE ET A SE IPSO ARTEM
DIDICIT. SCRIPSIT ORACVLVM ET VOCES SVAS PROTVLIT. SCRIPSIT DISERTVM VT SE IPSVM DESCRIBERET ET VT SCRIBERET HEROEM HEROICA PATRAVIT. HyEC ET ALIA EIVS SCRIPTA MOECENATES REGES HABVERVNT IVDICES ADMIRATIONEM LECTOREM MVNDVM TVPOGRAPHVM iETERNITATEM. PHILIPPVS HI. S>*;PE ILLIVS
ARGVTIAS INTER PRANDIVM VERSABAT NE DEFICERENT SALES REGIIS DAPIBVS. SED QVI PLAVSVS EXCITAVERAT CALAMO DEDITVS MISSIONIBVS EXCITAVIT PLANCTVS VERBO EXCITATVRVS DESIDERIVM IN MORTE QVA RAPTVS FVIT VI. DECEMBRIS AN. MDCLVIII SED ALIQVANDO EXTINCTVS
iETERNVM LVCEBIT.
II 2Df Maxims
Many men have sought to give their views about man and about life in a pithy way ; a few have tried to advise men in short sentences what to do in the various emergencies of life. The former have written aphorisms, the latter maxims. Where the aphorism states a fact of human nature, a maxim advises a certain course of action. The aphorism is written in the indicative, the maxim in an imperative mood.i "Life is interesting if not happy,"
^ Not to be misleading, I may mention that Gracian's are generally in the infinitive.
INTRODUCTION xxvil
is an aphorism, of Professor Seely's, I believe. "Ascend a step to choose a friend, descend a step to choose a wife," is a maxim of Rabbi Meir, one of the Doctors of the Talmud.
Now it is indeed curious how few maxims have ever been written. Wisdom has been extolled on the house-tops, but her practical advice seems to have been kept secret. Tab ing our own literature, there are extremely few books of practical maxims, and not a single one of any great merit. Sir Walter Raleigh's Cabinet Council^ Penn's Maxims, and Chester- field's Letters almost exhaust the list, and the last generally contains much more than mere maxims. Nor are they scattered with any pro- fusion through books teeming with knowledge of life, the galaxy of English novels. During recent years extracts of their " beauties " have been published in some profusion — Wit and Wisdom of Beaconsjield ; Wise, Witty, and Tender Sayings of George Eliot ; Extracts from Thackeray, and the rest — but the crop of practi- cal maxims to be found among them is extremely scanty. Aphorisms there are in plenty, especially in George Eliot, but he that is doubtful what course to pursue in any weighty crisis would wofully waste his time if he sought for advice from the novelists.
XXVIU ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Nor are the moralists more instructive in this regard. Bacon's Essays leave with one the impression of fulness of practical wisdom. Yet, closely examined, there is very little residue of practical advice left in his pregnant sayings. Even the source of most of this kind of writing, the Biblical book of Proverbs, fails to answer the particular kind of test I am at present applying. However shrewd some of them are, startling us with the consciousness how little human nature has changed, it is knowledge of human nature that they mainly supply. When we ask for instruction how to apply that knowledge we only get varia- tions of the theme " Fear the Lord." Two thousand years of experience have indeed shown that the Fear or Love of the Lord forms a very good foundation for practical wisdom. But it has to be supplemented by some such corollary as " Keep your powder dry" before it becomes of direct service in the conduct of life.
It is indeed because of the unpractical nature of practical maxims that they have been so much neglected. You must act in the concrete, you can only maximise in general terms. Then, again, maxims can only appeal to the mind, to the intellect : the
INTRODUCTION XXIX
motive force of action is the will, the temper- ament. As Disraeli put it : " The conduct of men depends on the temperament, not upon a bunch of musty maxims " [Henrietta Temple). It is only very distantly that a maxim can stir the vague desire that spurs an imitative will. True, at times we read of men whose whole life has been coloured by a single saying. But these have generally been more appeals to the imagination, like Newman's " Securus judicat orbis terrarum," or the " Heu ! fuge crudeles terras, fuge litus avarum," which had so decisive an effort on Savonarola's life. It is rare indeed that a man's whole life is tinged by a single practical maxim like Sir Daniel Gooch, who was influenced by his father's advice, " Stick to one thing."
Perhaps one of the reasons that have led literary persons to neglect the Maxim as a literary form has been their own ignorance of Action and, still more, their exaggerated notions of its difficulties and complexities. Affairs are not conducted by aphorisms : war is waged by a different kind of Maxims from those we are considering. Yet after all there must be some general principles on which actions should be conducted, and one would think they could be determined. Probably
XXX ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
the successful men ot action are not suffi- ciently self-observant to know exactly on what their success depends, and, if they did, they would in most cases try to " keep it in the family," like their wealth or their trade secrets.
And perhaps after all they are right who declare that action has little to do with intel- lect, and much with character. To say the truth, one is not impressed with the intellectual powers of the millionaires one meets. The shadiest of journalists could often explain their own doings with more point than they. Yet there are surely intellectual qualifications re- quired for affairs : the Suez Canal must have required as great an amount of research, emendation, sense of order, and organisation as, say, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. But there is no such punishment for slovenly scholarship in action as there is in letters. The Suez Canal can be dug only once : Lucretius or Latin inscriptions can be edited over and over again. Altogether we need not be surprised if the men of action cannot put the principles of action into pointed sentences or maxims.
And if men of action cannot, it is not sur- prising that men of letters do not. For they cannot have the interest in action and its
INTRODUCTION XXXI
rewards which is required for worldly success, or else they would not be able to concentrate their thoughts on things which they consider of higher import. To a man of letters the world is the devil, or ought to be if he is to have the touch of idealism which gives colour and weight to his words. How then is he to devote his attention to worldly wis'dom and the maxims that are to teach it ? It is characteristic in this connection that the weightiest writer of maxims in our language is Bacon, who attempted to combine a career of affairs and of thought, and spoilt both by so doing.
It is perhaps due to the subtle and all- embracing influence of Christianity on modern civilisation that this divorce between idealism and the world has come about. The strenuous opposition to the world among earnest Christians has led to their practical withdrawal from it. Just as the celibacy of the clergy meant that the next generation was to be deprived of the hereditary influence of some of the purest spirits of the time, so the opposition of Christianity to the world has brought it about that the world has been un-Christian. Only one serious attempt has been made to bridge the chasm. The idee mere of Jesuitism was
XXXll ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
to make the world Christian by Christians becoming worldly. It was doubtless due to the reaction against the over-spiritualisation of Christianity pressed by the Protestant Reformation, but its practical result has been to make the Jesuit a worldly Christian. The control of the higher education of Europe by the Jesuits has tended, on the other hand, to make society more Christian. If then we were to look for an adequate presentation of worldly wisdom touched with sufficient ideal- ism to make it worthy of a man of letters, we should look for it from a Jesuit, or from one trained among the Jesuits.
After all this elaborate explanation why so few maxims have been composed it may seem contradictory to give as a further and final reason because so many exist — under another form. For what are the majority of proverbs but maxims under another name, or rather maxims without the name of their author ? We say of proverbs, indeed, that they arise among the people, but it is one definite individual among the people that gives them the piquant form that makes them proverbial. It was, we may be sure, a definite English gaffer who first said, "Penny wise, pound foolish." If we knew his name, we should call it a maxim ; as
INTRODUCTION XXXUl
his name is unknown it ranks as a proverb. In this connection the Talmudic proverbs and maxims are of great interest. Owing to the worthy Rabbinic principle, "Say a thing in the name of the man who said it," we can in almost all cases trace Talmudic proverbs to their authors ; or, in other words, Talmudic proverbs remain maxims. There is only one analogous case in English ; a few of Benjamin Franklin's maxims, e.g, "Three removes are as good as a fire," ^ have become proverbs.
The abundance of proverbs is extraordinary. There is a whole bibliography devoted to the literature of proverbs (Duplessis, Bibliographie Paremiologique, Paris, 1847), and this needs nowadays a supplement as large again as the original (partly supplied by the bibliographical Appendix of Haller, Altspanische Sprichworter^ 1883). Indeed in the multitude of proverbs consists the greatest proof of their uselessness as guides to action, for by this means we get proverbs at cross purposes. Thus take the one I have just referred to, " Penny wise, pound foolish," which has a variant in the proverb, " Do not spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar."
1 Most persons have heard the cynical continuation of a modern : "Three fires are as good as a failure and three failures are as good as a fortune." c
XXXIV ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
A man who was hesitating as to the amount or expense he would incur in any undertaking would be prompted by these sayings to be lav- ish. But then how about the proverb, " Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves " ? Between the two pro- verbs he would come to the ground, and if he has the vovs to decide between them, he does not need the proverbs at all.
Hence it is perhaps that the nation that is richest in proverbs is the one that has proved itself among European peoples the least wise in action. To the Spaniards has been well ap- plied the witticism about Charles II. : " They never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one." Certainly if proverbs be a proof of wis- dom the Spaniards have given proofs in abun- dance. Don Quixote is full of them and the Spanish collections are extraordinarly rich. Now the nation that can produce good pro- verbs should be able to produce good maxims ; hence we should expect the best book of maxims to emanate from a Spaniard.
One characteristic of both these forms of prac- tical wisdom is their artificiality. One has to think twice before the point of a proverb or a maxim is perfectly clear. "The early bird catches the worm " seems at first sight as meaning-
INTRODUCTION XXXV
less a proposition as "There are milestones on the Dover Road." Hence itiswhen a literature is passing through its artificial stage that maxims would naturally appear. So that it was clearly- preordained that when the book of maxims should appear it would be by a Jesuit, so as to be worldly yet not too worldly ; by a Spaniard, so that it should have the proverbial ring ; and during the prevalence of cultismo, so that it should have the quaintness to attract attention.
Ill m t|)e " 2DracuIo i^anual "
Having thus proved a priori that the ideal book of maxims was destined to be the Oraculo Manual oi Balthasar Gracian, let us proceed to prove our proof, as schoolboys do with their sums. That it is the best book of maxims is a foregone conclusion, because there is none other. Schopenhauer, who translated the book, observes that there is nothing like it in German, and there is certainly none approaching it in English, and if France or Italy can pro- duce its superior, it is strange that its fame has remained so confined to its native country.
Not that there are not books teaching the art of self-advancement in almost all languages. The success of Dr. Smiles's volume on Self-Help is a
XXXVl ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
sufficient instance of this.^ Curiously enough, Dr. Smiles's book has had its greatest success in Italy, where it has given rise to quite a lettera- tura selfelpista, as the Italians themselves call it. Or rather not curiously, for if you wish to find the most unromantic set of ideals nowa- days you must go search among the Romance nations.
Gracian does not, however, compete with Dr. Smiles. He does not deal with Brodweisheit \ he assumes that the vulgar question of bread and butter has been settled in favour of his reader. He may be worldly, but he is thinking of the great world. He writes for men with a position and how to make the most of it. Nor is the aim he puts before such persons an en- tirely selfish one. " The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good " is the only rational defence of ambition, and Gracian employs it (Max. cclxxxvi).
Indeed the tone of the book is exceptionally high. It is impossible to accuse a man of any meanness who is the author of such maxims as —
" One cannot praise a man too much who speaks well of them who speak ill of him " (clxii).
1 One of our public men, I have been told, is known among his friends by the sobriquet of " Self-help by smiles.'
INTRODUCTION XXXVU
^B " When to change the conversation ? When
^H they talk scandal " (ccl).
^H "In great crises there is no better companion
^H than a bold heart " (clxvii).
^B "The secret of long life : lead a good life "
^f *'Be able to boast that if gallantry, gener- osity, and fidelity were lost in the world men would be able to find them again in your own breast " (clxv).
" A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are" (cclxxx).
And there are whole sections dealing with such topics as Rectitude (xxix), Sympathy with great Minds (xliv), a genial Disposition (Ixxix), and the like.
Not that he is without the more subtle de- vices of the worldly wise. One could not wish to have anything more cynical or stinging than the following : —
" Find out each man's thumbscrew " (xxvi).
" A shrewd man knows that others when they seek him do not seek him^ but their advantage in him and by him " (cclii).
" The truth, but not the whole truth " (clxxxi).
XXXVlll ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
" Keep to yourself the final touches of your art " (ccxii).
" Do not take payment in politeness " (cxci).
" Have a touch of the trader " (ccxxxii).
" Think with the few and speak with the many" (xliii).
" Never have a companion who casts you in the shade " (clii).
" Never become paradoxical in order to avoid the trite '* (cxliii).i
" Do not show your wounded finger " (cxlv).
The characteristic of the book is this com- bination or rather contrast of high tone and shrewdness. Gracian is both wisely worldly and worldly wise. After all, there does not seem to be any inherent impossibility in the combination. There does not seem any radical necessity why a good man should be a fool. One always has a certain grudge against Thackeray for making his Colonel Newcome so silly at times, though perhaps the irony, the pathos, the tragedy of the book required it. As a matter of fact the holiest of men have been some of the shrewdest, for their friends at least, if not for themselves.
The explanation of the combination in
* Mr. Oscar Wilde's attention may be respectfully called to this maxim.
INTRODUCTION XXXIX
Gracian is simple enough. He was a Jesuit, and the Jesuits have just that combination ot high tone and worldly wisdom as their raison d'etre. And in the case of the Oraculo the mixture was easily effected by Gracian or his friend Lastanosa. For Gracian had written at least two series of works in which this con- trast was represented by separate books. Two of these describing the qualities of the Hero and the Prudent Man (-£"/ Heroe and El Dis- creto) were published and are represented in the Oraculo.^ Two others dealing with the Gal- lant and the Cautious Man {El Galante and El Varon Atento) are referred to by Lastanosa in the preface to El Discreto, and are also doubtless represented in the book before us. One may guess that the section on Highminded- ness (cxxviii) or on Nobility of Feeling (cxxxi) comes from El Galante, while " Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone " (cxxxiii) smacks of El Varon Atento. At times we get the two tones curiously intermingled : " Choose an heroic ideal " (Ixxv) seems at first sight a noble sentiment, but Gracian goes on to qualify it by adding, " but rather to emulate than to imitate."
The modernness of the tone is the thing ^ See iupra^ p. xxi. and notes.
xl ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
that will strike most readers apart from these contrasts. Here and there one may be struck by an archaic note. " Never compete " would scarcely be the advice of a worldly teacher nowadays. But on the whole there is a tone of modern good society about the maxims which one would scarcely find in contempor- ary English works like Peacham's, or even in contemporary French authors like Charron. The reason is that modern society is permeated by influences which Gracian himself represented. The higher education of Europe for the last two and a half centuries has been in the hands of Jesuits or in schools formed on the Ratio Studiorum. And Society in the stricter sense traces from the H6tel Rambouillet, where one- half the influence was Spanish. Gracian thus directly represents the tone of the two Societies which have set the tone of our society of to-day, and it is no wonder therefore if he is modern.
Even in his style there is something of a modern epigrammatic ring. At times there is the euphuistic quaintness, e.g. " One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the centre of opportunity." But as a rule the terseness and point of the maxim approximate to the modern epigram. "El
INTRODUCTION xli
escusarse antes de ocaslon es culparse " might be both the source and the model of ^i s^ excuse s^ accuse. The terseness is indeed excessive and carried to Tacitean extremes. " A poco saber camino real," " Ultima felicidad el filosofar," "Harto presto, si bien." Gracian jerks out four or five words where a popular preacher would preach a sermon. Yet I cannot agree with the writers who call Eim obscure. He is one of the writers that make you think before you grasp his meaning, but the meaning is there, and put plainly enough, only tersely and very often indirectly, after the manner of proverbs. There is indeed no doubt that he and his predecessors were in- fluenced by the form of the Spanish proverb in drawing up aphorisms and maxims. I say pre- decessors, for aphorismic literature at any rate was no novelty in Spain. Among the long list of books on aphorisms possessed by the late Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, and still at Keir, there are fully a dozen Spanish ones who pre- cede Gracian(Hernando Diaz,Lopez de Corelas, and Melchior de Santa Cruz are the most im- portant, though the latter is more full of anec- dotage). Among them is a book of Aforismos by Antonio Perez, whose Relaciones has been the chief means of blackening Philip II. 's
xlii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
character.^ The former are undoubtedly of the same style as Gracian, and probably influenced him, though, as they are aphorisms and not maxims, I have not been able to quote parallels in the Notes. Thus " Una obra vale millares de gra9ias " (Perez, Afor. i. 198) has the same proverbial ring. It is curious to see Lytton's "The pen is mightier than the sword " anticipated by Perez' " La pluma corta mas que espadas afiladas" {ibid. 199), or Voltaire's " Speech was given us to conceal our thoughts " in Perez' "Las palabras, vestido de los con- jeptos " (ii. 130). This last example has all Gracian's terseness, while Perez' "Amigos deste Siglo, rostros humanos, cora9ones de fieras " ^ (ii. 7 1 ) has both terseness and cynicism. Certainly the only other work in Spanish or any other literature preceding Gracian on any- thing like the same lines is this book of Jforismos by Antonio Perez.
It is somewhat of a question, to my mind, how far Gracian was the author of the final form of the maxims as we have them in the Oraculo. Those taken from El Heroe and
^ On Perez see Mr, Froude's paper in his Spanish Story of tke Armada. Perez was over in England and was of the Sidney set.
2 "Friends nowadays, human faces, hearts of brutes.'
INTRODUCTION xliii
El Discreto differ from their originals with great advantage. They are terser, more to the point and less euphuistic. Now the Address to the Reader has all these qualities, and we may assume was written by its signatory, Don Vincencio de Lastanosa. It is just possible that we owe to him the extreme terseness and point of the majority of the maxims of the Oraculo Manual, It must not, however, be assumed that they are all as pointed and epigrammatic as those I have quoted. Gracian seems advisedly to have imbedded his jewels in a duller setting. At times he vies with the leaders of the great sect of the Platitudinarians, and he can be as banal as he is brilliant. Even as it is, his very brilliancy wearies, and after fifty maxims or so one longs for a more fruity wisdom, a more digressive discussion of life like those learned, wise, and witty essays of Mr. Stevenson, which may some day take higher rank as literature than even his novels.
Perhaps, after all, the weariness to v^^hich I refer may be due to the cautious tone of the book. To succeed one must be prudent \^ that is the great moral of the book, and \i so, does it seem worth while to succeed ? If life is to be
^ The second title of the book is Arte de Prudencia^ which I have adopted as the main title of my version.
xliv ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
denuded of the aleatory element, is it worth living? Well, Gracian meets you when in that temper too. It is indeed remarkable how frequently he refers to luck ; how you are to trust your luck, weigh your luck, follow youi luck, know your unlucky days, and so forth. Is all this a confession that after all life is too complex a game for any rules to be of much use ? Granted, but there is one thing certain about life, and that is put by Goethe in the lines which I, following Schopenhauer,^ have placed at the head of my translation. One must be either hammer or anvil in this world, and too great an excess of idealism only means that the unideal people shall rule the world. To guard against both extremes we have the paradoxical advice I have heard attributed to Mr. Ruskin, " Fit yourself for the best society, and then — never enter it."
Whether any ideal person will learn to rule the world by studying Gracian's or any one else's maxims is somewhat more doubtful, for reasons I have given above in discussing pro- verbs. The man who can act on maxims can act without them, and so does not need them. And there is the same amount of contradiction
^ Gracian was his favourite author j " Mein Gracian " he called him on one occasion {Memorabilien, p. 505).
INTRODUCTION xlv
in maxims as in proverbs. Thus, to quote an example from the book before us, from Max. cxxxii it would seem best to keep back an intended gift : " long expected is highest prized " ; whereas from Max. ccxxxvi we learn that " the promptness of the gift obliges the more strongly." Which maxim are we to act upon ? That depends on circumstances, and the judgment that can decide on the circum- stances can do without the maxims. I cannot therefore promise success in the world to whomsoever may read this book ; otherwise 1 should perhaps not have published it.
But whether Gracian's maxims are true or useful scarcely affects their value. To the student of literature as such, the flimsiest senti- ment or the merest paradox aptly put is worth the sublimest truth ill expressed. And there can be little doubt that Gracian puts his points well and vigorously. I cannot hope to have reproduced adequately all the vigour and force of his style, the subtlety of his distinctions, or the shrewdness of his mother-wit. But enough, I hope, has emerged during the process of trans- lation to convince the reader that Gracian's Oraculo Manual has much wisdom in small compass and well put.
I
I
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX
The best bibliographical account of Gracian's works is that of Backer, Bibliotheque des ecri'vains de la Compagnie de Jesus, 1869, sub -voce. I have shortened the descriptions of the translations, etc., of the other works of Gracian, adding a few items from the British Museum Catalogue and other sources. The Oraculo Manual I have treated separately and more fully.
A. Gracian's Works. I. El Heroe de Loren90 Gracian Infanzon. Dedicado al
Rey N.S. En Huesca por Juan Nogues, 1637, 8vo. [Published by Don Vincencio Juan de Lastanosa.
According to Latassa the first edition was published
in Madrid, 1630. Other editions in Madrid, 1639 ;
Barcelona, 1640 ; Amsterdam, 1659 (por Juan Blaeu)j
also in the Biblioteca de autores espafioles, 1873,
t. Ixv.
French translation (i) by Gervais, medecin du
roy, Paris, 1645 ; reprinted Amsterdam, 1659 j (2) by
P. de Courbeville, Paris, 1725.
Engliih translation (i) by Sir J. Skeffington,
Lond. 1652 ; (2) from Courbeville's by a "gentleman
of Oxford," Lond. 1726,]
xlviii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
2. El politico Don Ferdinando el catolico de Lorenzo
Gracian. Al excelentisimo Sefior Duque de Nochera. En Zaragoza, 1640, 120.
[Published by Lastanosa. Reprinted Zaragoza, 1641, 160 J Huesca, 1646, 120 ; Amsterdam, 1659.
French translation (i) by M. de S. (Silhouette, Chancellor of the Due d'Orleans), Paris, 1720 ; re- printed 1730, and Amsterdam, 1731 ; (2) by P. de Courbeville, 1732, 120.
German translation by D. G. von Lohenstein.]
3. Agudeza y Acte de Ingenio en que se explican todos los
modos y diferencias de conceptos. Madrid, 1642, 8vo.
[Also published by Lastanosa. Other editions at Huesca, 1646 and 1648 (the latter with Salinas' translation of Martial).
Italian translation by a Genoese who passed it off as his own [Journ. des Sa-vants, 1696, p. 333).]
4. El Discrete. Dedicado al serenlsimo Senor Don Baltasar
Carlos de Austria. En Huesca por Juan Nogues, 1645, 8vo.
[Published by Lastanosa. Republished Barcelona, 1647, i^°> Brussels, 1665, 120 ; Amsterdam, 1665, 12°; alsoinBibliotecadeautoresespanoles, i873,t.lxv.
French translation by De Courbeville j 2nd ed. Rotterdam, 1729.
English, " The Compleat Gentleman," by T. Sal- keld ; 2nd ed. London, 1730 ; 3rd, Dublin, 1760.
German, Der VoUkommene Mensch. Augsburg, 1729, 8vo, from the French.
Italian, L' Uomo Universale. Venice, 1725, from the French.
Polish by Brzostowski. Wilna, 1762, from the French.]
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX xlix
5. El Criticon. Primera Parte en la Primavera de la Ninez
yen el Estio de la Juventad. En Madrid, 1650, 8vo — Segunda Parte Juyziosa y cortesana Filosofia en el Otono de la Varonil Edad. En Huesca, 1653, 8vo — Tercera Parte en el Invierno de la Vejez. En Huesca, 1653, 8vo.
[Reprinted Madrid, 1658, 8vo.
English, Pt. I., by P. Rycaut. Lond. 168 1.
French translation by Maunony. Paris, 1696-
1708, 120. Reprinted at La Hague, 1708, 1723, 1734. ; Rouen, 1709 ; Geneva, 1725.
Italian, by G. P. Cattaneo. Venice, 1685, 1698,
1709, 1720, 1745.
Dutch, by M. Smallegange. 'S Gravenhage, 1691, 120.
German, by C. Gottschling. Frankfurt, 1710; Halle, 1721.]
6. Oraculo Manual. See infra B.
7. El Comulgador : varias meditaciones para ... la sacrada
communion. Madrid, 1655, 120.
[Reprinted Zaragoza, 1655, 160 j Amberes, 1725, 4to } Valencia, 1736, 12^ ; Madrid, 1757, 8vo, 1788, 160, 1826, 8vo } Paris, 1840, 240, 185 1, 180, 1854, 180, 1857, 180, i860, 180.
English translation by M. Monteiro, 1876, 8vo.
French,hy Amelotde la Houssaie. Paris, 1693, 120.
Italian, by Castro and Inviziati.
German, anon. Frankfort, 1734? 8vo j reprinted Vienna, 1738; and Nuremberg, 175 1, with Appendix by W. Reithmeier, 1847.
Latin, anon. Munster, 1750-52, 12°.]
8. Obras de Lorenzo Gracian. Amberes, 1652, 4to.
[Reprinted Madrid, 1664, 4to j Barcelona, 1667.
d
1 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
4to ; Amberes, 1669, 4to ; Madrid, 1674, 4to ; Bar- celona, 1700, 4to (with four idylls Selvas de anc)-j-Am- beres, 1702,410, 1723, 4to ; Madrid, 1720, 4to 5 Bar- celona, 1734, 4to, 1748, 4to, 1757, 4toj Madrid 1773, 4to — all in two vols. Latassa also mentions various poems and letters which
are scattered about, some in MS. For El Varon Atento and
El Galante see mpra p. xxii.
B. Oraculo Manual.
Early Spanish Bibliography is in a very bad state.
One difficulty is that each of the smaller kingdoms
of Spain seems to have had the right to reprint books
published in any other division. We find this difficulty
with the Edltio Princeps of the Oraculo Manual. Latassa
states that it was first published in Huesca, Aragon, in
1647, "Por Juan Nogues " (like most of Gracian's
works). No copy of this edition is known to exist in
any of the great libraries of Spain or other parts of
Europe, and the earliest known is that contained in the
British Museum with the following title : —
Oracvlo / Manval y Arte / de Prvdencia / Sacada de los
a / forismos que de discurren en / las obras de Lorenzo /
Gracian. / Publicala D. Vi / cencio Juan de Lastanosa.
/ Y la dedica / al Excelentissimo / Seiior D. Luis Men-
dez / de Haro. Con licencia. En Madrid por Maria
de Oiiiones ano de 1653. / [160 pp. in 240.]
But in the Censor's licence to this there is a distinct
reference to a previous edition with which it is said to
correspond [" coresponde con el antes impresso . . . que
otras vezes ha sido impresso "]. This confirms Latassa's
date of 1647 for the ed. pr. But this makes it difficult
to understand Lastanosa's reference to the twelve books of
Gracian's, of which the Oraculo was the quintessence.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX li
Four only had been published by that time, and the two unpublished would make up only half a dozen. We must therefore leave the date of the ed. pr. a variable between 1647 and 1653, to be fixed by the future Spanish Lowndes or Hazlitt.
The Oraculo was reprinted at Amsterdam 1659, ^"^^ henceforth it appeared in all the editions of the Obrai. It is curious that it has never been reprinted separately in modern times in Spain, and can only be obtained in Biblioteca de autores espanoles, tomo Ixv. It has, however, been a book more honoured abroad than in its own country, as the following list of Translations, taken mainly from Grisebach and the British Museum Catalogue, will show : —
I. Italian.
1. Oracolo manuale, e Arte di Prudenza / Cavata dagl*
Aforismi, chc si discorrono nell' Opre di Lorenzo Gratiano / Mandalo in Luce D. Vincenzo Giovanni de Lastanosa. Diretto alia Nobilta Venetiana e dedicato all' Illustr. & Eccellentiss. Sig. Leonardo Pesaro ... In Venetia mdclxxix.
[Republished Venice, 1708, 17 18, 1790.]
2. Huomo di Corte nuovamente tradotto dall' Abbate
Franceso Tosques. Roma, 1698.
[From the French. Republished Venice, 1730 j Naples, 1740, 1761.]
II. French.
I. L'homme de cour de Baltasar Gracian. Traduit & commente par le Sieur Amelot de la Houssaie, ci- devant Secretaire de I'Ambassade de France a Venise. Paris, 1684.
[Reprinted La Hague, 1692 ; Lyons, 1693 ; Rot- terdam, 17 1 6, 1728 ; also editions in Paris, 1691, 1702, 1732, 1765, 1808.]
lii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
2. Maximes de Baltazar Gracien, traduites de I'Espagnol [par J. de Courbeville]. Paris, 1730.
in. English.
1. The / Courtier's / Oracle ; / or the / Art of Pruderice /
. . . Written originally in Spanish / And now done into English. London, 1694.
[From the French of Amelot de la Houssaie.]
2. The Art of Prudence ; or a Companion for a Man of
Sense. Made English . . and illustrated with the Sieur Amelot de la Houssaie's notes, by Mr. Savage. London, 1702.
[Two more editions, 1705, 17 14. The book was simply a revision of the earlier translation.]
IV. Latin.
1. Balthas. Graciani, Hispani, Aulicus sive de prudentia
civili et maxime aulica liber singularis olim hispanice conscriptus, postea et Gallice, Italice, Germanice editus, nunc ex Ameloti versione Latine redditus . . . Franc. Glarianus Meldenus, Constantiensis, recensuit, latine vertit . . . et notis illustravit. Accessit Joh. Gottl. Heineccii J.C. praefatio. Francofurti ad Via- drum MDCcxxxi.
[A reprint at Vienna, 1750.]
2. Hominis Aulici notum Graciani oraculum prudentiae,
depromptum in sententiarum politicarum centurias III . . . Latinorum lingua loquens per interpretem P. A. Ulrich. 1734.
V. Hungarian. I. Bolts 68 figyelmetes udvari ember. Irta Spanyol nyelven Gratzian B. Forditotta Nemetbiil Faludi F. . . . Posonyban, 1770, 177 1.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX liii
2. Udvari Kato Vagy is Gratzian B. nak Faludi F. altal Magyarra forditatott CCC Makszimai .... Gyor'olt, 1790. [In verse.]
VI. Polish. Baltazar Gracyan doskoiialacy dworskiego cztowjeka przez 300 maxym . . . Krakow, 1802. [By Count Sierakowski.]
VII. German.
1. L'Homme de cour ®bcr bev I^cutigc politifcljc VOelt- unb
StaaiS'tOei^e f fiirgeftcQet von ^altljafar ©racian, ^is= paniern Uni) toegen fciner I]ol]en IDiirbe in unfre iiod)-- teutfdjc Spradje iiberfe^et ani^o aus bem (Original uermeliret, unb sum Jlnbernntal^I tjerausgegebcn con 3o^- Ccontjarb Sauter, J. U. D. ^rantffuttfj unb £eip3tg, 1687. [Pp. cxvm, 775, 240.]
2. Balthasar Gracian's Homme de Cour, oder : Kluger
Hof- und Weltmann, nach Mr. Amelot de la Houssaie seiner franzbsischen Version, in's Teutsche iibersetzet von Selintes [=C. Weissbach]. Nebst Herrn C. Thomasii judicio vom Gracian. Augsburg, 1711.
3. Salttjafar (Sractans (Dracul ; b. t. Hegcin bcr Klugfjett.
llns bem Spanifdjen von 21. S- ttl&Uet. 2 Sanbe. £cip3ig, 17 15-17 17.
[Two thick volumes containing Spanish original,
Germ, paraphrase, and elaborate notes. Went
into a second edition in 1733.]
4. Uomo di corte ober fluger ^of= txxib Weltmann. Uadb, bev
3taltcnifd?en lleberfet5ung ins 5cutfcfjc iibcrfe^t [von €iivx^opi\ ^cinrtd? ^^r^isleben]. 2IItcnburg, 1723. [With the Italian text.]
liv ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
5. Die Kunft 3U leben ; DortrefpIid?e Regein eincs alien II>cIt=
manncs furs mcnfd?Iidje Ceben. Uadj Balttiafat ©racian [oon K. £f. £}eybenreid}], Ceipjtg, 1786.
6. Der ITlann oon JDelt, etngctoetht in bte (Sebeimniffe bcr
Cebensflugt^eit, ein nad) Saltbafar ©racian frci bearbettetes ooUfianbig binterlaffenes ITlanuffript [oon K. ^. ^cybcns rddj], Ceip3ig, martini, 1803. [Reprinted Reutlingen, 1804.]
7. Z)as fc^arse Snd; ober £ef;ren ber CebenstDetst;ett <Sradan's
. . . 1826.
8. tnfinnerfdjulc von B. ©racian. 2Ius bem Spanifdjen fibcrfc^t
Don 5r. KoUc. Stuttgart, 1838.
9. Saltl^afar ©ractan's ^anborafel unb Kunfi ber tOeltflugtjeit,
trcu unb forgfditig uberfe^t von 2Irtf}ur Sdjopcntjaucr.
Iladjgelaffenes ^anbfc^rift, £eip3ig, 1861.
[Edited by Frauenstadt ; reprinted 1862, 1877. Another edition from the original MS. by Grisebach in the Reclam series, 1889.]
VIII. Dutch. De Konst der Wysheit getrokken ujt de Spaensche van Gracian en nu vertaalt door M. Smallegange In's Gravenhage, mdcxcvi.
LEADING MAXIMS
i Everything is at its Acme ( Todo estd ya en
su punto) . . ..... I
ii Character and Intellect {Genio y ingenio) . i
iii Keep Matters for a Time in Suspense {Lle-var
sus cosas con suspencion) .... 2
iv Knowledge and Courage {El saber y el •valor). z
V Create a Feeling of Dependence (H^2!0-^g/)tf«^«) 3
vi A Man at his Highest Point {Hombreen su punto) 3 vii Avoid Victories over Superiors {Escusar •vkorias
del patron) ...... 4
viii To be without Passions [Hombre inapasion-
able) 5
ix Avoid the Faults of your Nation {Desmentir los
achaques de su nacion) .... 5
X Fortune and Fame [For tuna y Fama) . . 6 xi Cultivate those who can teach you {Tratar
con qulen se pueda aprender) ... 6
xii Nature and Art {Naturale%a y Arte) . . 7
Ivi ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
xiii Act sometirties on Second Thoughts, sometimes on Firstlmpulse {Obrar deintencion,yasegunda y ya f rimer a) ...... 7
xiv The Thing Itself and the Way it is done {La
realidad ye el tnodo) ..... 8
XV Keep Ministering Spirits {Tener higcnios
auxillares) ...... 9
xvi Knowledge and Good Intentions {Saber con
recta mtencion). ..... 10
xvii Vary the Mode of Action {Variar de tenor en
el obrar) . . . . . . .10
xviii Application and Ability {Aplicaciony Miner-va) 1 1 xix Arouse no Exaggerated Expectations on
entering {No entrar con sobrada expectacion) 1 1 XX A Man of the Age {Hombre en su siglo) . .12 xxi The Art of being Lucky {Arte para ser dichoso) 1 3 xxii A Man of Knowledge to the Point {Hombre
de plausibles noticias) . . . • ' 3
xxiii Be Spotless {No tener algun desdoro) . .14
xxiv Keep the Imagination under Control {Templar
la imaginacion) , . . . -14
XXV Know how to take a Hint {£uen ciuendedor) . 1 5 xxvi Find out each Man's Thumbscrew {Hallarle
su torcedor a cada uno) . . . • 1 5
xxvii Prize Intensity more than Extent {Fagarse
mas de Intenciones que de Extenciones) . .16
xxviii Common in Nothing {En nada -vulgar) . . 16 xxix A Man of Rectitude {Hombre de entereza) . 17 XXX Have naught to do with Occupations of Ill- repute {No ha-zer profesion de empleos des- autorhados) , . . . .18
LEADING MAXIMS Ivii
PAGE
xxxi Select the Lucky and avoid the Unlucky {Conocer los afortunados para la eleccion y los desdichados para la fuga) . . . .18
xxxii Have the Reputation of being Gracious [Estar
en opinion de ddr gusto) . . . • ^9
xxxiii Know how to Withdraw [Saber abstraer) , 19 xxxiv Know your strongest Point [Conocer su realce
Rey) 20
XXXV Think over Things, most over the most Important {Haszer concepto y mas de lo que import a mas) . . . . . .20
xxxvi In Acting or Refraining, weigh your Luck ( Tener tanteada su Fortuna^ para el proceder, para desempenarse) . . . '. .21
xxxvii Keep a Store of Sarcasms, and know how to use them {Conocer y saber usar de las •varrillas) . . . . . .22
xxxviii Leave your Luck while Winning [Saberse
dexar ganando con la fortuna) . . -23
xxxix Recognise when Things are ripe, and then enjoy them [Conocer las cosas en su punto, en su sa'zon y saber las lograr) . . . • ^3
xl The Goodwill of People [Gracia de las geutes) 24 xli Never Exaggerate [Nunca exagerar) . . 24. xlii Born to command [Del natural Imperio) . 25
xliii Think with the Few and speak with the
Many [Sentir con los menosy hablar con los mas) 25 xliv Sympathy with great Minds [Simpatia con los
grandes 'uarones) . . . . .26
xlv Use, but do not abuse, Cunning [Usar^ no
abusar de las rejiexas) . . . • ^7
Iviii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
xlvi Master your Antipathies [Corregir su antipatia)
xlvii Avoid "Affairs of Honour " {Hulr loi empeno)
xlviii Be Thorough {Hombre con Rondos)
xUx Observation and Judgment [Hombre juy%mo y
notante) ......
1 Never lose Self-respect [Nunca perderse respeto a u mhmo) ....
li Know how to Choose well {Hombre de buena eleccion) .....
lii Never be put out {Nunca descomponerse) liii Diligent and Intelligent {Diligentey inteligente) liv Know how to show your Teeth {Tener brios a lo cucrdo) .....
Iv Wait {Hombre de espera)
Ivi Have Presence of Mind {Tener buenos repentes Ivii Slow and Sure {Mas seguros son los pensados) Iviii Adapt Yourself to your Company {Saber se atemperar) .....
lix Finish off well {Hombre de buen dexo) . Ix A Sound Judgment {Buenos dictamenes) Ixi To Excel in what is Excellent {Eminencia en lo mejor) .....
Ixii Use good Instruments {Obrar con buenos instru mentos) .....
Ixiii To be the First of the Kind is an Excellence
{Excelencia de primero) Ixiv Avoid Worry {Saberse escusar pesares) . Ixv Elevated Taste {Gusto rele-vante) . Ixvi See that Things end well {Atencton que salgan bien las cosas) .....
LEADING MAXIMS lix
PAGE
Ixvii Prefer Callings en Evidence {Prefer ir los empleos
plausible s) . . . . , •39
Ixviii It is better to help with Intelligence than with Memory {Dar entendimiento es de mas primor que el ddr memoria) . . . -39
Ixix Do not give way to every common Impulse
[No rendirse d un vulgar humor) . . 40
Ixx Know how to Refuse {Saber negar) . .41
Ixxi Do not Vacillate {No ser desiguaf) . . 42
Ixxii Be Resolute {Hombre de resolucion) . . 42
Ixxiii Utilise Slips {Saber usar del desliz) . . 43
Ixxiv Do not be Unsociable {No ser intratable) . 43 Ixxv Choose an Heroic Ideal {Elegir idea heroyca) . 44 Ixxvi Do not always be Jesting {No estdr siempre de
burlas) ....... 45
Ixxvii Be all Things to all Men {Saber ha-zerse a todos) 45 Ixxviii The Art of undertaking Things {^rte en el
intentar) ....... 46
Ixxix A Genial Disposition {Genio genial) . . 46
Ixxx Take care to get Information {Atencion al
informarse) . . . . . •47
Ixxxi Renew your Brilliance. (Usar el reno-var su
lucimiento) ...... 47
Ixxxii Drain Nothing to the Dregs, neither Good
nor 111 {Nunca apurar^ ni el mal, ni el bien) . 48 Ixxxiii Allow Yourself some venial Fault {Permitese
algun venial desliz) . . . . -48
Ixxxiv Make use of your Enemies {Saber usar de los
enemigos). ...... 49
Ixxxv Do not play Manille {No ser malilla) . .50
Ixxxvi Prevent Scandal {Prevenir las malas vozes) . 50
Ix ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
Ixxxvii Culture and Elegance [Cultura y al'ino) . 51
Ixxxviii Let your Behaviour be Fine and Noble [Sea el trato for mayor procurando la sublimida
en el) 52
Ixxxix Yinovf Yonr^tli {Comprehension de si) . • 5^
xc The Secret of Long Life {^rte para 'uinnr
mucho) . . , . , . -53
xci Never set to work at Anytiun^ if you have any Doubts of its Prudence [Obrar siempre stn escrupolos de imprudencla) . . '53
xcii Transcendant Wisdom (Seso transcendental) . 54 xciii Versatility {Hombre universal) . . .54 xciv Keep the extent of your Abilities unknown
[Incomprehensibilidad de caudal) . -55
xcv Keep Expectation alive {Saber entretenir la
expectacion) . . . . . -55
xcvi The highest Discretion [De la gran sinderesis) 55 xcvii Obtain and preserve a Reputation [Conseguir
y conservar la reputacion) . . . • 56
xcviii Write your Intentions in Cypher [Cifrar la
voluntad) . . . . , • 5^
xcix Ktality and ApTptarance [Realidadyapareticia) 57 c A Man without Illusions, a wise Christian, a philosophic Courtier [Varon desengaiiado, Christiana sahio, Cortesano filosofo) , '57
ci One half of the World laughs at the other, and Fools are they all [La mitad del mundo se esta riendo a la otra mitad^ con necedad de todos) , . . . • 5 8 cii Be able to stomach big slices of Luck [Esto-
mago para grandes bocados de la for tuna) . 58
LEADING MAXIMS
Ixi
cv cvi
cix ex
cxi cxii cxiii
cxiv cxv
cxvii cxviii
Let each keep up his Dignity {Cada uno la
magestad en su modo) . . . -59
Try your hand at Office {Tetter tornado el
pulso a los empleos) . . . . -59
Don't be a Bore [No camar) . . .60
Do not parade your Position (No afectar la for tuna) . . . . . . .61
Show no Self-satisfaction [No tnostrar satis- faccion de si) . . . . . .62
The Path to Greatness is along with Others
[Atajo para ser persona^ saber ladear) . . 62
Be not Censorious [No ser acriminador) . 63
Do not wait till you are a Sinking Sun [No
aguardar a ser sol que se pone) . . -63
Have Friends [Tener amigos) . . -64
Gain Goo6-wi\i [Ganar la pia ajjccion) . 65
In Prosperity prepare for Adversity [Pre-
•uenirse en la fortuna prospera para la ad-
•versa) ....... 65
Never Compete {Nunca competir) . .66
Get used to the Failings of your Familiars [Hazerse a las malas condiciones de los fam- iliar es) . . . . . . .66
Only act with Honourable Men [Tratar
siempre con gente de obligaciones) . . .67
Never talk of Yourself [Nunca hablar de st) 67 Acquire the Reputation of Courtesy [Ccb- rar fama de corte's) . . . . .68
Avoid becoming Disliked [No ha^crse de mal querer) . . . . ■ .69
Live Practically (^/w> ^ /o^Z^rfa) . . 69
Ixii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
cxxi Do not make a Business of what is no
Business {No Aazar negocio del no negocio) 70 cxxii Distinction in Speech and Action {Senorio
en el dezir y en el hazar) . . • 7 1
cxxiii A\o\d Affectation [Hombre desafectado) . 71 cxxiv Get Yourself missed {Llegar a ser deseados) 72 cxxv Do not be a Black List {No ser Ubro •uerde) 73 cxxvi Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in not hiding it when committed {No es necio el que ha%e la necedad^ sino el que hecha no la sabe encubrir) . . . -73
cxxvii Grace in Everything {El despojo en todo) . 74 cxxviii Highmindedness {Altera de animo) . . 74
cxxix Never Complain {Nunca quexarse) . • 75 cxxx Do and be seen Doing {Ha%er y ha%er
parecer) ...... 76
cxxxi Nobility of Feeling {Galanteria de condicion) 76 cxxxii Revise your Judgments {Usar del reconsejo) yj cxxxiii Better Mad with the rest of the World than Wise alone {Antes loco con todos que cuerdo a solas) ...... "J"]
cxxxiv Double your Resources {Dcblar los requisitos
de la vida) ...... 78
cxxxv Do not nourish the Spirit of Contradiction
{No ienga espiritu de contradicion) . '79
cxxxvi Post Yourself in the Centre of Things
{Ponerse bien en las mater ias) . . -79
cxxxvii The Sage should be Self-sufficing {Bastase
a si mismo el sabio) , . . .80
cxxxviii The Art of letting Things alone {Arte de
dexar estar) ...... 80
LEADING MAXIMS Ixiii
PAGE
cxxxix Recognise unlucky Days {Comcer el dia
aziago) . . . . . .81
cxI Find the Good in a Thing at once {Hallar
luego con lo bueno en cada cosa) . .82
cxli Do not listen to Yourself {No escucharse) . 82 cxlii Never from Obstinacy take the Wrong Side because your Opponent has anticipated you in taking the Right One {Nunca por tema seguir el peor partido porque el contrario se adelanto y escogeo el mejor) . . .83
cxliii Never become Paradoxical in order to avoid the Trite [No ddr en paradoxo por huir
de •vulgar) 84
cxliv Begin with Another's to end with your Own {Entrar con la agena para salir con
la suya) 85
cxlv Do not show your wounded Finger {No
descubrir el dedo malo) . . , • 85
cxlvi Look into the Interior of Things {Mir ar por
dentro) 86
cxlvii Do not be Inaccessible {No ser inaccessible) . 86
cxlviii Have the Art of Conversation {Tener el
arte de conversar) . . . . .87
cxlix Know how to put off Ills on Others
{Saber declinar a otro los males) . .88
cl Know how to get your Price for Things
{Saber 'vender sus cosas) . , . -89
cli Think beforehand {Pensar anticipado) . 89
clii Never have a Companion who casts you in the Shade {Nunca acompanaise con quien que pueda deslucir). . . . .90
Ixiv ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
cliii Beware of entering where there is a great Gap to be filled [Huya de entrar a llenar grandes •vacios) . . . . .91
cliv Do not Believe, or Like, lightly {No set-
facil en creer ni en querer) . . .91
civ The Art of getting into a Passion [Arte en
el afassionarse) , . . . .92
clvi Select your friends {Amigos de eleccion) . 93 clvii Do not make Mistakes about Character
{No enganarse en las personal) . . 94
clviii Make use of your Friends {Saber usar de los
amigos) ...... 94
clix Put up with Fools {Saber sufrir necios) . 95 clx Be careful in Speaking {Hablar de atento) . 96 clxi Know your pet Faults {Conocer los defectos
dukes) ...... 96
clxii How to triumph over Rivals and Detractors {Saber triunfar de la emulac'ton y male- •volencia) . . . . . -97
clxiii Never, from Sympathy with the unfor- tunate, involve Yourself in his Fate {Nuncapor la compassion del tnfeliz se ha de incurrir en la desgracia del afortunado) . 97
clxiv Throw Straws in the Air {Echar al ayre
algunas cosas) . . . . .98
clxv Wage War Honourably {Hazer buena guerra) 98
clxvi Distinguish the Man of Words from the Man of Deeds {Diferenc'iar el hombre de palabras del de obras) . . . '99
clxvii Know how to take your own Part {Saber se
ayudar) . . , , . .100
LEADING MAXIMS Ixv
PAGE
clxviii Do not indulge in the Eccentricities of Folly
(No dar en momtruo de la necedad) . .100
clxix Be more careful not to Miss once than to Hit a hundred times [Atencion a no errar una mas que a acertar c'lento) . . .101
clxx In all Things keep Something in Reserve
{XJzar del reten en todas las cosas) . .101
clxxi Waste not Influence {No gastar el fa-vor) . 102
clxxii Never contend with a Man who has nothing to Lose {No empeiiarse con quien no tiene que perder) . . . . -103
clxxiii Do not be Glass in Intercourse, still less in Friendship {No ser de 'vitrio en el trato y menos en la amis tad) . . . .103
clxxiv Do not live in a Hurry {No •uivir apriesa) 104
clxxv A Solid Man {Hombre substancial) . . 105
clxxvi Have Knowledge, or know those that have Knowledge {Saber 0 escuchar a quien sabe) ....... 106
clxxvii Avoid Familiarities in Intercourse {Escusar
llane%as en el trato) . . . .106
clxxviii Trust your Heart {Creer al corapn) . .107
clxxix Reticence is the Seal of Capacity {La reten-
tiva es el sella de la capacidad) . .107
clxxx Never guide the Enemy to what he has to do {Nunca regirse por lo que el enemigo avia de ha%er) ...... 108
clxxxi The Truth, but not the whole Truth {Sin
mentir, no dezir todas las -verdades) -. .108
clxxxii A Grain of Boldness in Everything (C/«^ra«o
de audacia con iodo) . . . 1 09
e
Ixvi ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
clxxxiii Do not hold your Views too firmly (No
aprender Juerteniente) . . . .no
clxxxiv Do not be Ceremonious (No ser ceremonial) no clxxxv Never stake your Credit on a single Cast {Nutica exponer el credito a la prueba de sola una 've'z) . . . . . .in
clxxxvi Recognise Faults, however high placed {Conocer los dejectos por mas autori%ados que
ester) in
clxxxvii Do pleasant Things Yourself, unpleasant things through Others {Todo lo fa'uorable, obrarlo por si, todo lo od'ioso, por terceros) . 112 clxxxviii Be the Bearer of Praise {Traer que alabar) 113 clxxxix Utilise Another's Wants [Valerse de la
pri'vacion agena) . . . . .114
cxc Find Consolation in all Things {Hallar el
consuelo en todo) . . . . .114
cxci Do not take Payment in Politeness {No
pagarse de la mucha cortesia) . . -US
cxcii Peaceful Life, a long Life {Hombre de gran
pa% hombre de mucha 'v'ldd) . . • "^^S
cxciii Watch him that begins with Another's to end with his Own {Atencion al que e-ntra con agena por sal'ir a la suya) . . .116
cxciv Have reasonable Views of Yourself and of your Affairs {Concebir de si y de sus cosas cuerdamente) . . . . .116
cxcv Know how to Appreciate {Saber estimar) . 117 cxcvi Know your ruling Star {Conocer su estrella) Wj cxcyii Do not carry Fools on your Back {Nunca
embara^arse con los necios) . . .118
LEADING MAXIMS Ixvii
I'AGE
cxcviii Know how to transplant Yourself {Saberse
transplantar) . . . . .119
cxcix To find a proper Place by Merit, not by Presumption [Saberse ha%er lugar a lo cuerdo^ no a. lo entremetido) . . .120
cc Leave Something to wish for [Temr que
desear) . . . . . .120
cci They are all Fools who seem so besides half the rest {Son tontos todos las que lo parecen y la mitad de las que no le parecen^ . .121
ccii Words and Deeds make the Perfect Man
{Dichos y hechos ha%en un njaron comumado) 121
cciii Know the great Men of your Age {Conocer
las eminencias de su siglo) , . .122
cciv Attempt easy Tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy {Lo facil se ha de emprender como dificultoso y lo d'lficultoso como facil) . . . .122
ccv Know how to play the Card of Contempt
{Saber jugar del desprechio) . , .123
ccvi Know that there are vulgar Natures every- where {Sepase que ay i/ulgo en todas partes) 124
ccvii Be Moderate {Usar del repm-te) . . .124
ccviii Do not die of the Fools' Disease {No morir
de achaque de necio) . . . . 125
ccix Keep Yourself free from common Follies
{Librarse de las comunes necedades) . .126
ccx Know how to play the Card of Truth {Saber
jugar de la -verdad) . . . .126
ccxi In Heaven all is bliss {En el cielo todo es
contento) . . . . . .127
Ixviii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
ccxii Keep to Yourself the final Touches of your Art (Reservarse siempre las ultimas tretas
del arte) 128
ccxiii Yinow how to QontraiWct {Saber contradecir) 128 ccxiv Do not turn one Blunder into two {No
hazer de una necedad dos) . . .129
ccxv Watch him that acts on Second Thoughts
{Atencicn al que llega de segunda intencion) 129 ccxvi Be Expressive ( Tener la declarat'wd) . .130 ccxvii Neither Love nor Hate for ever {No se ha
de querer ni ahorrecer para siempre) . -131 ccxviii Never act from Obstinacy but from Knowledge {Nunca obrar por tema sino por intencion) . . . . -131
ccxix Do not pass for a Hypocrite {No ser tenido
por hombre de artijicio) . . . .132
ccxx If you cannot clothe yourself in Lionskin use Foxpelt {^luando no puede uno -vestirse la piel del Leon^ vestase la de la Vulpeja) 133 ccxxi Do not seize Occasions to embarrass Yourself or Others {No ser ocasionado ni para empenarse^ ni para empenar) . . -133
ccxxii Reserve is proof of Prudence {Hombre
detenido e'videncia de prudente) , • 1 34
» ccxxiii Be not Eccentric (iVo ser muy individuado) 134 ccxxiv Never take Things against the Grain
{Saber tomar las cosas nunca al repelo) . 135 ccxxv Know your chief Fault (Cb«o«r i« </^f ft) i?cy) 136 ccxxvi Take care to be Obliging {Atencion d obligar) 1 36 ccxxvii Do not be the Slave of First Impressions
{No ser de primera Impression) . .137
LEADING MAXIMS Ixix
PAGE
ccxxviii Do not be a Scandalmonger {No tener 'vo'z
de mala njo-z) . , . . • l'?7
ccxxix Plan out your Life wisely {Sal?er repartir su
fida a lo discreto) . . . .138
ccxxx Open your Eyes betimes {Abrir los ojos con
tiempo) ijg
ccxxxi Never let Things be seen half - finished [Nunca permitir a medio hazer las
cosas) 139
ccxxxii Have a Touch of the Trader {Tener un punto
de negociante) , . . , .140
ccxxxiii Let not the proffered Morsel be distasteful
[No errarle el golpe al gusto) . . .141
ccxxxiv Never trust your Honour to another, unless you have his in Pledge [Nuncajiar reputa- cion sin prendas de honra agena) . . 141
ccxxxv Know how to Ask [Saber pedir) . . 142 ccxxxvi Make an Obligation beforehand of what would have to be a Reward afterwards (Hazer obligacion antes de lo que ha-via de ser premio de spues) . . . -143
ccxxxvii Never share the Secrets of your Superiors
(Nunca partir secretos con may ores) . -143
ccxxxviii Know what is wanting in Yourself
[Conocer la picza que falta) , . -144
ccxxxix Do not be Captious {No ser reagudo). . 145
ccxl Make use of Folly [Saber usar de la
necedad) . . . . . -145
ccxli Put up with Raillery, but do not practise it
[Las bur las sujrirlas, pero no usar las) . 146
ccxlii Push Advantages [Seguir los alcan^es) . 146
Ixx ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
ccxliii Do not be too much of a Dove {No ser todo
colomb'tno) . . . . . -147
ccxliv Create a feeling of Obligation {Saher
obligar) . . . . . •147
ccxlv Original and out-of-the-way Views {Dis- currir tal ^6% a lo singular y fuera de lo comun) ...... 148
ccxlvi Never offer Satisfaction unless it is de- manded {Nunca ddr satisfacion d quien no
la pedia) 149
ccxlvii Know a little more, Live a little less
{Saber un poco mas,y "vivir un poco menos) 149 ccxlviii Do not go with the last Speaker (iVo se le
lle-ve el ultimo) . . . . .150
ccxlxix Never begin Life with what should end it {No comen^ar a vivir por donde se ha de acabar) . . . . . .150
ccl When to change the Conversation {S^ando
se ha de discurrir a re'ves) . . • '5'
ccli Use human Means as if there were no divine ones, and divine as if there ■ were no human ones {Hanse de procurar los medios humanos como sino hwuiesse Di'uinos,y los Divinos como sino hwuiesse humanos) . . . . . • IS'^
cclii Neither belong entirely to Yourself nor entirely to Others {Ni todo suyo ni todo ageno) . . . . . • ^S*
ccliii Do not Explain overmuch {No allanarse
sobrado en el concepto) . . . .152
ccliv Never despise an Evil, however small {No
despreciar el mal por poco) . . • 1 5 3
LEADING MAXIMS Ixxi
PAGE
cclv Do Good a little at a time, but often
[Saber ha%er el bien poco y muchas "vezes) . 154 cclvi Go armed against Discourtesy (/r siempre
prevent do contra los discorteses) . • 1 54
cclvii Never let Matters come to a Rupture
{Nunca llegar a rompimiento) . . .155
cclviii Find out some one to share your Troubles {Buscar quien le ayude a lleniar las infel'tci- dadei) . . . . . ,156
cclix Anticipate Injuries and turn them into Favours [Prevenir las injurias y ha%ar dellas fa-vores) . . . . .156
cclx We belong to none and none to us en- tirely (iVii sera ni tendra a ninguno todo por
i«yo) 157
cclxi Do not follow up a Folly (iVo proseguir la
necedad) . . . . . .157
cclxii Be able to Forget {Saber olvidar) . .158
cclxiii Many Things of Taste one should not possess oneself {Muchas cosas de gusto no se kan de poseer en propriedad) . .158
cclxiv Have no careless Days {No tenga dias de
descuydo) . . . . . • ^$9
cclxv Set those under you difficult Tasks {Saber
empenar los dependientes) . . • ^$9
cclxvi Do not become Bad from sheer Goodness
{No ser malo de puro bueno) . . .160
cclxvii Silken Words, Sugared Manners {Palabras
de seda con sua-vidad de condicion) . .161
cclxviii The Wise does at once what the Fool does at last {Haga al principio el cuerdo lo que el necio al fin) . ..... 161
Ixxii ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
cclxix Make use of the Novelty of your Position
[yalgase de su nauedad) . . .162
cclxx Do not condemn alone that which pleases all (iVb condenar solo lo que a muchos agrada) ...... 162
cclxxi In every Occupation if you know little stick to the safest [El que supiere poco tengase siempre a lo mas seguro en toda pro- fession) ...... 163
cclxxii Sell Things by the Tariff of Courtesy
[Vender las cosas aprecio de cortesia) . 163
cclxxiii Comprehend their Dispositions with whom you deal [Comprehension de los genios con quien trata) . . . . . .164
cclxxiv Be Attractive [Tener la atractiva) . .164 cclxxv Join in the Game as far as Decency permits
[Corriente pero no indecente) . . .165
cclxxvi Know how to renew your Character [Saber
renovar el genio) . . . . .166
cclxx vii Display Yourself [Hombre de ostentacion) . 166 cclxxviii Avoid Notoriety in all Things [Huir la nota
en todo) ...... 168
cclxxix Do not contradict the Contradicter [Node-zir
al contradezir) . . . . .168
cclxxx Be Trustworthy [Hombre de ley) . .168
cclxxxi Find Favour with Men of Sense [Gracia
con los entendidos) . . . . .169
cclxxxil Make use of Absence to make yourself more esteemed or valued [Usar de la ausencia 6 para el respecto^ 6 para la estima- ctoti) ....... 170
LEADING MAXIMS Ixxiii
PAGE
cclxxxiii Have the Gift of Discovery [Hombre de
Inventi'va) . . . . . .170
cclxxxiv Do not be Importunate {No ser entremedido) 171 cclxxxv Never die of another's Ill-luck [No perecer
de desdicha agena) . . . . • 1 7 1
cclxxxvi Do not become responsible for all or for every one {No dexarse obligar del todo ni de todos) . . . . . .172
cclxxxvii Never act in a Passion [Nunca obrar
apa%mnado) . . . . • ^7^
cclxxxviii Live for the Moment {Vi'vir a la ocasion) . 173 cclxxxix Nothing depreciates a Man more than to show he is a Man like other Men {El mayor desdoro de un hombre es ddr muestras de que es hombre) . . . . ■ ^73
ccxc 'Tis a piece of Good Fortune to combine Men's Love and Respect {Es felicidad juntar el aprecio con el afecto") , - ^74-
ccxci Know how to Test {Saber liazer la tentativa) 174 ccxcii Let your personal Qualities surpass those of your Office {Veti^a el natural las obligaciones del empleo) . . . • ^7S ccxciii Maturity {De la madure%) . . -17$ ccxci V Be moderate in your Views {Moderarse en
el sentir) 176
ccxcv Do not Affect what you have not effected
{No ha'x.aiiero sino ha%anoso) . . .176
ccxcvi Noble Qualities {Varon de prendasy magestu-
o^i) "^77
ccxcvii Act always as if your Acts were seen
{Obrar siempre como a -vista) . . .178
Ixxiv ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
PAGE
ccxcviii Three Things go to a Prodigy {Tres cosas
ha%en un prodigio) . . . .178
ccxcix Leave off Hungry [Dexar con hambre) . 179 ccc In one word, be a Saint {En una palabra
santo) . . . . . . -179
To the Reader
No laws for the just, no counsels for the wise. Yet no one ever knew as much as he had need. One thing you must forgive, another, thank me for. I have called this manual of worldly wisdom an Oracle, for it is one in curtness and senten- tiousness. On the other hand, I offer you in one all the twelve works of Gracian. Each of these is so highly thought of that his Prudent Man had scarcely appeared in Spain than it was en- joyed among the French, in whose language it was translated and at whose court it was printed. May this he Wisdom^ s hill of fare at the banquet of her sages, in which she inscribes the items of the feast of reason to be found in Gracian^ s other works,
DON yiNCENClO JUAN DE LASTANOSA.
1 Everything is at its Acme ;
especially the art of making one's way in the world. There is more required nowa- days to make a single wise man than formerly to make Seven Sages, and more is needed nowadays to deal with a single person than was required with a whole people in former times.
ii Character and Intellect :
the two poles of our capacity ; one with- out the other is but halfway to happiness. Intellect sufficeth not, character is also needed. On the other hand, it is the fool's misfortune to fail in obtaining the position, the employ- ment, the neighbourhood, and the circle of friends that suit him.
^ B
2 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
iii Keep Matters fur a Time in Suspense.
Admiration at their novelty heightens the value of your achievements. It is both useless and insipid to play with the cards on the table. If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse expectation, especially when the importance of your position makes you the object of general attention. Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very mystery arouses veneration. And when you explaiif, be not too explicit, just as you do not expose your inmost thoughts in ordinary intercourse. Cautious silence is the holy of holies of worldly wisdom. A resolution declared is never highly thought of; it only leaves room for criticism. And if it happens to fail, you are doubly unfortunate. Besides you imitate the Divine way when you cause men to wonder and watch.
iv Knowledge and Courage
are the elements of Greatness. They give immortality, because they are immortal. Each is as much as he knows, and the wise can do anything. A man without knowledge, a world without light. Wisdom and strength, eyes and hands. Knowledge without courage is sterile.
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 3
V Create a Feeling of Dependence.
Not he that adorns but he that adores makes a divinity. The wise man would rather see men needing him than thanking him. To keep them on the threshold of hope is diplo- matic, to trust to their gratitude boorish ; hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one. More is to be got from dependence than from courtesy. He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well, and the orange once sucked falls from the golden platter into the waste-basket. When dependence disappears, good behaviour goes with it as well as respect. Let it be one of the chief lessons of experience to keep hope alive without entirely satisfying it, by preserving it to make oneself always needed even by a patron on the throne. But let not silence be carried to excess lest you go wrong, nor let another's failing grow incurable for the sake of your own advantage.
vi J Man at his Highest Point.
We are not born perfect : every day we develop in our personality and in our calling till we reach the highest point of our completed being, to the full round of our accomplishments, of our excellences. This is known by the
I
4 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
purity of our taste, the clearness of our thought, the maturity of our judgment, and the firmness of our will. Some never arrive at being com- plete ; somewhat is always awanting : others ripen late. The complete man, wise in speech, prudent in act, is admitted to the familiar intimacy of discreet persons, is even sought for by them.
vii Avoid Victories over Superiors.
All victories breed hate, and that over your superior is foolish or fatal. Superiority is always detested, a fortiori superiority over superiority. Caution can gloss over common advantages ; for example, good looks may be cloaked by careless attire. There be some that will grant you precedence in good luck or good temper, but none in good sense, least of all a prince ; for good sense is a royal preroga- tive, any claim to that is a case of lese majeste. They are princes, and wish to be so in that most princely of qualities. They will allow a man to help them but not to surpass them, and will have any advice tendered them appear like a recollection of something they have forgotten rather than as a guide to something they cannot find. The stars teach us this finesse with happy tact ; though they are his
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 5
children and brilliant like him, they never rival the brilliancy of the sun.
viii To be without Passions.
'Tis a privilege of the highest order of mind. Their very eminence redeems them from being affected by transient and low impulses. There is no higher rule than that over oneself, over one's impulses : there is the triumph of free will. While passion rules the character, no aiming at high office ; the less the higher. It is the only refined way of avoiding scandals ; nay, 'tis the shortest way back to good repute.
ix Avoid the Faults of your Nation.
Water shares the good or bad qualities of the strata through which it flows, and man those of the climate in which he is born. Some owe more than others to their native land, because there is a more favourable sky in the zenith. There is not a nation even among the most civilised that has not some fault peculiar to itself which other nations blame by way of boast or as a warning. 'Tis a triumph of cleverness to correct in oneself such national failings, or even to hide them : you get great credit for being unique among your
6 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
fellows, and as it is less expected of you it is esteemed the more. There are also family failings as well as faults of position, of office or of age. If these all meet in one person and are not carefully guarded against, they make an intolerable monster.
X Fortune and Fame.
Where the one is fickle the other is enduring. The first for life, the second afterwards ; the one against envy, the other against oblivion. Fortune is desired, at times assisted : fame is earned. The desire for fame springs from man's best part. It was and is the sister of the giants ; it always goes to extremes — horrible monsters or brilliant prodigies.
xi Cultivate those who can teach you.
Let friendly intercourse be a school of knowledge, and culture be taught through conversation : thus you make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversa- tion with the advantages of instruction. Sensible persons thus enjoy alternating pleasures : they reap applause for what they say, and gain instruction from what they hear. We are always attracted to others by our own interest.
I
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 7
but in this case it is of a higher kind. Wise men frequent the houses of great noblemen not because they are temples of vanity, but as theatres of good breeding. There be gentle- men who have the credit of worldly wisdom, because they are not only themselves oracles of all nobleness by their example and their behaviour, but those who surround them form a well-bred academy of worldly wisdom of the best and noblest kind.
xii Nature and Art :
material and workmanship. There is no beauty unadorned and no excellence that would not become barbaric if it were not supported by artifice : this remedies the evil and improves the good. Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best ; for that we must have recourse to art. Without this the best of natural dispositions is uncultured, and half is lacking to any excellence if training is absent. Every one has something unpolished without artificial training, and every kind of excellence needs some polish,
xiii Jet sometimes on Second Thoughts, sometimes on First Impulse.
Man's life is a warfare against the malice of
6 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
men. Sagacity fights with strategic changes of intention : it never does what it threatens, it aims only at escaping notice. It aims in the air with dexterity and strikes home in an un- expected direction, always seeking to conceal Its game. It lets a purpose appear in order to attract the opponent's attention, but then turns round and conquers by the unexpected. But a penetrating intelligence anticipates this by watchfulness and lurks in ambush. It always understands the opposite of what the opponent wishes it to understand, and recognises every feint of guile. It lets the first impulse pass by and waits for the second, or even the third. Sagacity now rises to higher flights on seeing its artifice foreseen, and tries to deceive by truth itself, changes its game in order to change its deceit, and cheats by not cheating, and founds deception on the greatest candour. But the opposing intelligence is on guard with in- creased watchfulness, and discovers the dark- ness concealed by the light and deciphers every move, the more subtle because more simple. In this way the guile of the Python combats the far darting rays of Apollo.
xiv The Thing Itself and the Way it is done. " Substance " is not enough : " accident "
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 9
is also required, as the scholastics say. A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice ; a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself. The how plays a large part in affairs, a good manner steals into the affections. Fine behaviour is a joy in life, and a pleasant expression helps out of a difficulty in a remarkable way.
XV Keep Ministering Spirits.
It is a privilege of the mighty to surround themselves with the champions of intellect ; these extricate them from every fear of ignorance, these worry out for them the moot points of every difficulty. 'Tis a rare greatness to make use of the wise, and far exceeds the barbarous taste of Tigranes, who had a fancy for captive monarchs as his servants. It is a novel kind of supremacy, the best that life can offer, to have as servants by skill those who by nature are our masters. 'Tis a great thing to know, little to live : no real life without knowledge. There is remarkable cleverness in studying without study, in getting much by means of many, and through them all to become wise. Afterwards you speak in the council chamber on behalf of manv, and as many sages speak through your
lo ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
mouth as were consulted beforehand : you thus obtain the fame of an oracle by others' toil. Such ministering spirits distil the best books and serve up the quintessence of wisdom. But he that cannot have sages in service should have them for his friends.
xvi Knowledge and Good Intentions
together ensure continuance of success. A fine intellect wedded to a wicked will was always an unnatural monster. A wicked will envenoms all excellences : helped by know- ledge it only ruins with greater subtlety. 'Tis a miserable superiority that only results in ruin. Knowledge without sense is double folly.
xvii Var;^ the Mode of Action;
not always the same way, so as to distract attention, especially if there be a rival. Not always from first impulse ; they will soon recognise the uniformity, and by anticipating, frustrate your designs. It is easy to kill a bird on the wing that flies straight : not so one that twists. Nor always act on second thoughts : they can discern the plan the second time. The enemy is on the watch, great skill is re- quired to circumvent him. The gamester
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM II
never plays the card the opponent expects, still less that which he wants.
xviii Application and jibility.
There is no attaining eminence without both, and where they unite there is the greatest eminence. Mediocrity obtains more with application than superiority without it. Work is the price which is paid for reputation. What costs little is little worth. Even for the highest posts it is only in some cases applica- tion that is wanting, rarely the talent. To prefer moderate success in great things than eminence in a humble post has the excuse of a generous mind, but not so to be content with humble mediocrity when you could shine among the highest. Thus nature and art are both needed, and application sets on them the seal.
xix Arouse no Exaggerated Expectations on
entering.
It is the usual ill-luck of all celebrities not to fulfil afterwards the expectations beforehand rormed of them. The real can never equal the imagined, lor it is easy to form ideals but very difficult to realise them. Imagination
12 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
weds Hope and gives birth to much more than things are in themselves. However great the excellences, they never suffice to fulfil expecta- tions, and as men find themselves disappointed with their exorbitant expectations they are more ready to be disillusionised than to admire. Hope is a great falsifier of truth ; let skill guard against this by ensuring that fruition exceeds desire. A few creditable attempts at the beginning are sufficient to arouse curiosity without pledging one to the final object. It is better that reality should surpass the design and is better than was thought. This rule does not apply to the wicked, for the same exaggeration is a great aid to them ; they are defeated amid general applause, and what seemed at first extreme ruin comes to be thought quite bearable.
XX ^ Man of the Age.
The rarest individuals depend on their age. It is not every one that finds the age he deserves, and even when he finds it he does not always know how to utilise it. Some men have been worthy of a better century, for every species of good does not always triumph. Things have their period ; even excellences are subject to fashion. The sage has one advantage : he is
I
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 13
immortal. If t/^is is not his century many others will be.
xxi T/^e Jrt of being Lucky.
There are rules of luck : it is not all chance with the wise : it can be assisted by care. Some content themselves with placing them- selves confidently at the gate of Fortune, waiting till she opens it. Others do better, and press forward and profit by their clever boldness, reaching the goddess and winning her favour on the wings of their virtue and valour. But on a true philosophy there is no other umpire than virtue and insight; for there is no luck or ill-luck except wisdom and the reverse.
xxii A Man of Knowledge to the Point.
Wise men arm themselves with tasteful and elegant erudition ; a practical knowledge of what is going on not of a common kind but more like an expert. They possess a copious store of wise and witty sayings, and of noble deeds, and know how to employ them on fitting occasions. More is often taught by a jest than by the most serious teaching. Pat know- ledge helps some more than the seven arts, be they ever so liberal.
14 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
xxiii Be Spotless:
the indispensable condition of perfection. Few live without some weaK point, either physical or moral, which they pamper because they could easily cure it. The keenness of others often regrets to see a slight defect attach- ing itself to a whole assembly of elevated qualities, and yet a single cloud can hide the whole of the sun. There are likewise patches on our reputation which ill-will soon finds out and is continually noticing. The highest skill is to transform them into ornament. So Caesar hid his natural defects with the laurel.
xxiv Keep the Imagination under Control;
sometimes correcting, sometimes assisting it. For it is all-important for our happiness, and even sets the reason right. It can tyrannise, and is not content with looking on, but influences and even often dominates life, causing it to be happy or burdensome accord- ing to the folly to which it leads. For it makes us either contented or discontented with ourselves. Before some it continually holds up the penalties of action, and becomes the mortifying lash of these fools. To others it promises happiness and adventure with blissful
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 15
delusion. It can do all this unless the most prudent self-control keeps it in subjection.
XXV Know how to take a Hint.
'Twas once the art of arts to be able to dis- course ; now 'tis no longer sufficient. We must know how to take a hint, especially in disabusing ourselves. He cannot make him- self understood who does not himself easily understand. But on the other hand there are pretended diviners of the heart and lynxes of the intentions. The very truths which concern us most can only be half spoken, but with attention we can grasp the whole meaning. When you hear anything favourable keep a tight rein on your credulity ; if unfavourable, give it the spur.
xxvi Find out each Man^s Thumbscrew.
'Tis the art of setting their wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where to get at any one. Every volition has a special motive which varies according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of fame, others of self-interest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play. Knowing any man's main-
l6 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
spring of motive you have as it were the key to his will. Have resort to primary motors, which are not always the highest but more often the lowest part of his nature : there are more dispositions badly organised than well. First guess a man's ruling passion, appeal to it by a word, set it in motion by temptation, and you will infallibly give checkmate to his freedom of will.
xxvii Prize Intensity more than Extent.
Excellence resides in quality not in quantity. The best is always few and rare : much lowers value. Even among men giants are commonly the real dwarfs. Some reckon books by the thickness, as if they were written to try the brawn more than the brain. Extent alone never rises above mediocrity : it is the mis- fortune of universal geniuses that in attempting to be at home everywhere, are so nowhere. Intensity gives eminence, and rises to the heroic in matters sublime.
xxviii Common in Nothing.
First, not in taste. O great and wise, to be ill at ease when your deeds please the mob ! The excesses of popular applause never satisfy
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 17
the sensible. Some there are such chameleons of popularity that they find enjoyment not in the sweet savours of Apollo but in the breath of the mob. Secondly, not in intelligence. Take no pleasure in the wonder of the mob, for Ignorance never gets beyond wonder. While vulgar follv wonders wisdom watches for the trick.
xxix J Maji of Rectitude
clings to the sect of right with such tenacity of purpose that neither the passions of the mob nor the violence of the tyrant can ever cause him to transgress the bounds of right. But who shall be such a Phcenix of equity ? What a scanty following has rectitude ! Many praise it indeed, but — for others. Others follow it till danger threatens ; then the false deny it, the politic conceal it. For it cares not if it fights with friendship, power, or even self- interest : then comes the danger of desertion. Then astute men make plausible distinctions so as not to stand in the way of their superiors or of reasons of state. But the straightforward and constant regard dissimulation as a kind of treason, and set more store on tenacity than on sagacity. Such are always to be found on the side of truth, and if they desert a party, they do
l8 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
not change from fickleness, but because the others have first deserted truth.
XXX Have naught to do with Occupations of Ill-repute, still less with fads that bring more notoriety than repute. There are many fanciful sects, and from all the prudent man has to flee. There are bizarre tastes that always take to their heart all that wise men repudiate ; they live in love with singularity. This may make them well known indeed, but more as objects of ridicule than of repute. A cautious man does not even make profession of his wisdom, still less of those matters that make their fol- lowers ridiculous. These need not be specified, for common contempt has sufficiently singled them out.
xxxi Select the Lucky and avoid the Unlucky.
Ill-luck is generally the penalty of folly, and there is no disease so contagious to those who share in it. Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. The greatest skill at cards is to know when to discard ; the smallest of current trumps is worth more than the ace of trumps of the last game. When in doubt, follow the
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 19
suit of the wise and prudent ; sooner or later they will win the odd trick.
xxxii Have the Reputation of being Gracious,
'Tis the chief glory of the high and mighty to be gracious, a prerogative of kings to conquer universal goodwill. That is the great advantage of a commanding position — to be able to do more good than others. Those make friends who do friendly acts. On the other hand, there are some who lay themselves out for not being gracious, not on account of the difficulty, but from a bad disposition. In all things they are the opposite of Divine grace.
xxxiii Know how to Withdraw.
If it is a great lesson in life to know how to deny, it is a still greater to know how to deny oneself as regards both affairs and persons. There are extraneous occupations which eat away precious time. To be occupied in what does not concern you is worse than doing nothing. It is not enough for a careful man not to interfere with others, he must see that they do not interfere with him. One is not obliged to belong so much to all as not to belong at all to oneself. So with friends, their
h
20 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
help should not be abused or more demanded from them than they themselves will grant. All excess is a failing, but above all in personal intercourse. A wise moderation in this best preserves the goodwill and esteem of all, for by this means that precious boon of courtesy is not gradually worn away. Thus you preserve your genius free to select the elect, and never sin against the unwritten laws of good taste.
xxxiv Know your strongest Point —
your pre-eminent gift j cultivate that and you will assist the rest. Every one would have excelled in something if he had known his strong point. Notice in what quality you surpass, and take charge of that. In some judgment excels, in others valour. Most do violence to their natural aptitude, and thus attain superiority in nothing. Time dis- illusionises us too late of what first flattered the passions.
XXXV Think over Things, most over the most Important.
All fools come to grief from want of thought. They never see even the half of things, and as they do not observe their own loss or gain, still
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 21
less do they apply any diligence to them. Some make much of what imports little and little of much, always weighing in the wrong scale. Many never lose their common sense, because they have none to lose. There are matters which should be observed with the closest attention of the mind, and thenceforth kept in its lowest depths. The wise man thinks over everything, but with a difference, most profoundly where there is some profound difficulty, and thinks that perhaps there is more in it than he thinks. Thus his comprehension extends as far as his apprehension.
XXX vi In Acting or Refraining, weigh your Luck.
More depends on that than on noticing your temperament. If he is a fool who at forty applies to Hippocrates for health, still more is he one who then first applies to Seneca for wisdom. It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it. For something is to be done with it by waiting so as to use it at the proper moment, since it has periods and offers opportunities, though one cannot calculate its path, its steps are so irregular. When you find Fortune favourable, stride boldly forward, for she favours the bold and, being a woman, the young. But
22 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
if you have bad luck, keep retired so as not to redouble the influence of your unlucky star.
xxxvii Keep a Store of Sarcasms, a?id know how to use them.
This is the point of greatest tact in human intercourse. Such sarcasms are often thrown out to test men's moods, and by their means one often obtains the most subtle and penetrating touchstone of the heart. Other sarcasms are malicious, insolent, poisoned by envy or en- venomed by passion, unexpected flashes which destroy at once all favour and esteem. Struck by the slightest word of this kind, many fall away from the closest intimacy with superiors or inferiors which could not be the slightest shaken by a whole conspiracy of popular insinuation or private malevolence. Other sarcasms, on the other hand, work favourably, confirming and assisting one's reputation. But the greater the skill with which they are launched, the greater the caution with which they should be received and the foresight with which they should be foreseen. For here a knowledge of the evil is in itself a means of defence, and a shot foreseen always misses its mark.
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 23
xxxviii Leave ^our Luck while Winning.
All the best players do it. A fine retreat is as good as a gallant attack. Bring your exploits under cover when there are enough, or even when there are many of them. Luck long lasting was ever suspicious ; interrupted seems safer, and is even sweeter to the taste for a little infusion of bitter-sweet. The higher the heap of luck, the greater the risk of a slip, and down comes all. Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favours by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying any one long on her shoulders.
xxxix Recognise when Things are ripe, and then enjoy them.
The works of nature all reach a certain point of maturity ; up to that they improve, after that they degenerate. Few works of art reach such a point that they cannot be improved. It is an especial privilege of good taste to enjoy everything at its ripest. Not all can do this, nor do all who can know this. There is a ripening point too for fruits of intellect ; it is well to know this both for their value in use and for their value in exchange.
24 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
xl The Goodwill of People.
'Tis much to gain universal admiration ; more, universal love. Something depends on natural disposition, more on practice : the first founds, the second then builds on that founda- tion. Brilliant parts suffice not, though they are presupposed ; win good opinion and 'tis easy to win goodwill. Kindly acts besides are required to produce kindly feelings, doing good with both hands, good words and better deeds, loving so as to be loved. Courtesy is the politic witchery of great personages. First lay hand on deeds and then on pens ; words follow swords ; for there is goodwill to be won among writers, and it is eternal.
xli Never Exaggerate.
It is an important object of attention not to talk in superlatives, so as neither to offend against truth nor to give a mean idea of one's understanding. Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste. Praise arouses lively curiosity, begets desire, and if afterwards the value does not correspond to the price, as generally happens, expectation revolts against
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 25
the deception, and revenges itself by under- estimating the thing recommended and the person recommending. A prudent man goes more cautiously to work, and prefers to err by omission than by commission. Extraordinary things are rare, therefore moderate ordinary valuation. Exaggeration is a branch of lying, and you lose by it the credit of good taste, which is much, and of good sense, which is more.
xlii Born to Command.
It is a secret force of superiority not to have to get on by artful trickery but by an inborn power of rule. All submit to it without knowing why, recognising the secret vigour of connatural authority. Such magisterial spirits are kings by merit and lions by innate privilege. By the esteem which they inspire, they hold the hearts and minds of the rest. If their other qualities permit, such men are born to be the prime motors of the state. They per- form more by a gesture than others by a long harangue.
xliii Think with the Few and speak with the Many.
By swimming against the stream it is impossible to remove error, easy to fall into
26 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
danger ; only a Socrates can undertake it. To dissent from others' views is regarded as an insult, because it is their condemnation. Disgust is doubled on account of the thing blamed and of the person who praised it. Truth is for the few, error is both common and vulgar. The wise man is not known by what he says on the house-tops, for there he speaks not with his own voice but with that of common folly, however much his inmost thoughts may gainsay it.- The prudent avoid being contradicted as much as contradicting : though they have their censure ready they are not ready to publish it. Thought is free, force cannot and should not be used to it. The wise man 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.
xliv Sympathy with great Minds.
It is an heroic quality to agree with heroes. 'Tis like a miracle of nature for mystery and for use. There is a natural kinship of hearts and minds : its effects are such that vulgar ignorance scents witchcraft. Esteem established, goodwill follows, which at times reaches affection. It persuades without words and obtains without earning. This sympath}
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 27
is sometimes active, sometimes passive, both alike felicific ; the more so, the more sublime. 'Tis a great art to recognise, to distinguish and to utilise this gift. No amount of energy suffices without that favour of nature.
xlv Use, but do not abuse. Cunning,
One ought not to delight in it, still less to boast of it. Everything artificial should be concealed, most of all cunning, which is hated. Deceit is much in use ; therefore our caution has to be redoubled, but not so as to show itself, for it arouses distrust, causes much annoy, awakens revenge, and gives rise to more ills than you would imagine. To go to work with caution is of great advantage in action, and there is no greater proof of wisdom. The greatest skill in any deed consists in the sure mastery with which it is executed.
xlvi Master your Antipathies.
We often allow ourselves to take dislikes, and that before we know anything of a person. At times this innate yet vulgar aversion attaches Itself to eminent personalities. Good sense masters this feeling, for there is nothing more discreditable than to dislike those better than
28 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
ourselves. As sympathy with great men en- nobles us, so dislike to them degrades us.
xlvii Avoid ^^Jffairs of Honour"
— one of the chiefest aims of prudence. In men of great ability the extremes are kept far asunder, so that there is a long distance between them, and they always keep in the middle or their caution, so that they take time to break through it. It is easier to avoid such affairs than to come well out of them. They test our judgment ; it is better to avoid them than to conquer in them. One affair of honour leads to another, and may lead to an affair of dishonour. There are men so constituted by nature or by nation that they easily enter upon such obligations. But for him that walks by the light of reason, such a matter requires long thinking over. There is more valour needed not to take up the affair than to conquer in it. When there is one fool ready for the occasion, one may excuse oneself from being the second.
xlviii Be Thorough.
How much depends on the person. The interior must be at least as much as the exterior. There are natures all frontage, like houses that
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 29
for want of means have the portico of a palace leading to the rooms of a cottage. It is no use boring into such persons, although they bore you, for conversation flags after the first salutation. They prance through the first compliments like Sicilian barbs, but silence soon succeeds, for the flow of words soon ceases where there is no spring of thoughts. Others may be taken in by them because they themselves have but a view of the surface, but not the prudent, who look within them and find nothing there except material for scorn.
xlix Observation and Judgment.
A man with these rules things, not they him. He sounds at once the profoundest depths ; he is a phrenologist by means of physiognomy. On seeing a person he understands him and judges of his inmost nature. From a few observations he deciphers the most hidden recesses of his nature. Keen observation, subtile insight, judicious inference : with these he discovers, notices, grasps, and com- prehends everything.
1 Never lose Self-respect, or be too familiar with oneself. Let your
30 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
own right feeling be the true standard of your rectitude, and owe more to the strictness of your own self-judgment than to all external sanctions. Leave off anything unseemly more from regard for your own self-respect than from fear of external authority. Pay regard to that and there is no need of Seneca's imaginary tutor.
li K/20ZV how to Choose well.
Most of life depends thereon. It needs good taste and correct judgment, for which neither intellect nor study suffices. To be choice, you must choose, and for this two things are needed : to be able to choose at all, and then to choose the best. There are many men of fecund and subtle mind, of keen judgment, of much learning, and of great observation who yet are at a loss when they come to choose. They always take the worst as if they had tried to go wrong. Thus this is one of the greatest gifts from above.
Hi "Never be put out,
'Tis a great aim of prudence never to be embarrassed. It is the sign of a real man, of a noble heart, for magnanimity is not easily put
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out. The passions are the humours of the soul, and every excess in them weakens prudence ; if they overflow through the mouth, the reputation will be in danger. Let a man therefore be so much and so great a master over himself that neither in the most fortunate nor in the most adverse circumstances can any- thing cause his reputation injury by disturbing his self-possession, but rather enhance it by showing his superiority.
liii Diligent and Intelligent.
Diligence promptly executes what intelli- gence slowly excogitates. Hurry is the failing of fools ; they know not the crucial point and set to work without preparation. On the other hand, the wise more often fail from procrastination ; foresight begets deliberation, and remiss action often nullifies prompt judgment. Celerity is the mother of good fortune. He has done much who leaves nothing over till to-morrow. Festina lente is a royal motto,
liv Know how to show your Teeth.
Even hares can pull the mane of a dead lion. There is no joke about courage. Give way
32 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
to the first and you must yield to the second, and so on till the last, and to gain your point at last costs as much trouble as would have gained much more at first. Moral courage exceeds physical; it should be like a sword kept ready for use in the scabbard of caution. It IS the shield of great place ; moral cowardice lowers one more than physical. Many have had eminent qualities, yet, for want of a stout heart, they passed inanimate lives and found a tomb in their own sloth. Wise Nature has thoughtfully combined in the bee the sweetness of its honey with the sharpness of its sting.
Iv Wait,
It's a sign of a noble heart dowered with patience, never to be in a hurry, never to be in a passion. First be master over yourself if you would be master over others. You must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the centre of opportunity. A wise reserve seasons the aims and matures the means. Time's crutch effects more than the iron club of Hercules. God Himself chasteneth not with a rod but with time. He ^ spake a great ivord who said, " Time and I against any two."
1 CJfarles V.
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 33
Fortune herself rewards waiting with the first prize.
Ivi Have Presence of Mind.
The child of a happy promptitude of spirit. Owing to this vivacity and wideawakeness there is no fear of danger or mischance. Many reflect much only to go wrong in the end : others attain their aim without think- ing of it beforehand. There are natures of Antiperistasis who work best in an emergency. They are like monsters who succeed in all they do offhand, but fail in aught they think over. A thing occurs to them at once or never : for them there is no court of appeal. Celerity wins applause because it proves remarkable capacity ; subtlety of judgment, prudence in action.
Ivii Blow and Sure.
Early enough if well. Quickly done can be quickly undone. To last an eternity requires an eternity of preparation. Only excellence counts ; only achievement endures. Profound intelligence is the only foundation for immortality. Worth much costs much. The precious metals are the heaviest.
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34 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Iviii Adapt Yourself to pur Company.
There is no need to show your ability before every one. Employ no more force than is necessary. Let there be no unnecessary expenditure either of knowledge or of power. The skilful falconer only flies enough birds to serve for the chase. If there is too much display to-day there will be nothing to show to-morrow. Always have some novelty where- with to dazzle. To show something fresh each day keeps expectation alive and conceals the limits of capacity.
lix Finish off well.
In the house of Fortune, if you enter by the gate of pleasure you must leave by that of sorrow and vice versa. You ought therefore to think of the finish, and attach more im- portance to a graceful exit than to applause on entrance. 'Tis the common lot of the unlucky to have a very fortunate outset and a very tragic end. The important point is not the vulgar applause on entrance — that comes to nearly all — but the general feeling at exit. Few in life are felt to deserve an encore. Fortune rarely accompanies any one to the
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 35
door : warmly as she may welcome the coming, she speeds but coldly the parting guest.
Ix A Sound Judgment.
Some are born wise, and with this natural advantage enter upon their studies, with a moiety already mastered. With age and ex- perience their reason ripens, and thus they attain a sound judgment. They abhor every- thing whimsical as leading prudence astray, especially in matters of state, where certainty is so necessary, owing to the importance of the affairs involved. Such men deserve to stand by the helm of state either as pilots or as men at the wheel.
Ixi To Excel in what is Excellent,
A great rarity among excellences. You can- not have a great man without something pre- eminent. Mediocrities never win applause. Eminence in some distinguished post dis- tinguishes one from the vulgar mob and ranks us with the elect. To be distinguished in a small post is to be great in little : the more comfort, the less glory. The highest eminence in great affairs has the royal characteristic of exciting admiration and winning goodwill.
36 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Ixii Use good Instruments,
Some would have the subtlety of their wits proven by the meanness of their instruments. 'Tis a dangerous satisfaction, and deserves a fatal punishment. The excellence of a minister never diminished the greatness of his lord. All the glory of exploits reverts to the principal actor ; also all the blame. Fame only does business with principals. She does not say, " This had good, that had bad serv- ants," but, " This was a good artist, that a bad one." Let your assistants be selected and tested therefore, for you have to trust to them for an immortality of fame.
Ixiii To be the First of the Kindts an Excellence,
and to be eminent in it as well, a double one. To have the first move is a great ad- vantage when the players are equal. Many a man would have been a veritable Phoenix if he had been the first of the sort. Those who come first are the heirs of Fame ; the others get only a younger brother's allowance : what- ever they do, they cannot persuade the world they are anything more than parrots. The skill of prodigies may find a new path to
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 37
eminence, but prudence accompanies them all the way. By the novelty of their enterprises sages write their names in the golden book of heroes. Some prefer to be first in things of minor import than second in greater exploits.
Ixiv Avoid Worn.
Such prudence brings its own reward. It escapes much, and is thus the midwife of comfort and so of happiness. Neither give nor take bad news unless it can help. Some men's ears are stuffed with the sweets of flattery ; others with the bitters of scandal, while some cannot live without a daily annoyance no more than Mithridates could without poison. It is no rule of life to prepare for yourself lifelong trouble in order to give a temporary enjoyment to another, however near and dear. You never ought to spoil your own chances to please another who advises and keeps out of the affair, and in all cases where to oblige another involves disobliging yourself, 'tis a standing rule that it is better he should suffer now than you after- wards and in vain.
Ixv Elevated Taste. You can train it like the intellect. Full
38 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
knowledge whets desire and increases enjoy- ment. You may know a noble spirit by the elevation of his taste : it must be a great thing that can satisfy a great mind. Big bites for big mouths, lofty things for lofty spirits. Before their judgment the bravest tremble, the most perfect lose confidence. Things of the first importance are few ; let appreciation be rare. Taste can be imparted by intercourse : great good luck to associate with the highest taste. But do not afi^ect to be dissatisfied with every- thing : 'tis the extreme of folly, and more odious if from affectation than if from Quixotry. Some would have God create another world and other ideals to satisfy their fantastic imag- ination.
Ixvi See that Things end well.
Some regard more the rigour of the game than the winning of it, but to the world the discredit of the final failure does away with any recognition of the previous care. The victor need not explain. The world does not notice the details of the measures employed, but only the good or ill result. You lose nothing if you gain your end. A good end gilds everything, however unsatisfactory the means. Thus at times it is part of the art of
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 39
life to transgress the rules of the art, if you cannot end well otherwise.
Ixvii Prefer Callings " en Evidence. '
Most things depend on the satisfaction of others. Esteem is to excellence what the zephyr is to flowers, the breath of life. There are some callings which gain universal esteem, while others more important are without credit. The former, pursued before the eyes of all, obtain the universal favour ; the others, diough they are rarer and more valuable, remain obscure and unperceived, honoured but not applauded. Among princes conquerors are the most celebrated, and therefore the kings of Aragon earned such applause as warriors, conquerors, and great men. An able man will prefer callings en evidence which all men know of and utilise, and he thus becomes immor- talised by universal suffrage.
Ixviii // // better to help with Intelligence than with Memory.
The more as the latter needs only recollec- tion, the former voi;?. Many persons omit the a propos because it does not occur to them ; a friend's advice on such occasions may enable
40 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
them to see the advantages. 'Tis one of the greatest gifts of mind to be able to oiFer what is needed at the moment : for want of that many things fail to be performed. Share the light of your intelligence, when you have any, and ask for it when you have it not, the first cautiously, the last anxiously. Give no more than a hint : this finesse is especially needful when it touches the interest of him whose attention you awaken. You should give but a taste at first, and then pass on to more when that is not sufficient. If he thinks of No, go in search of Yes. Therein lies the cleverness, for most things are not obtained simply because they are not attempted.
Ixix Do not give way to every common Impulse.
He is a great man who never allows himself to be influenced by the impressions of others. Self-reflection is the school of wisdom. To know one's disposition and to allow for it, even going to the other extreme so as to find the juste milieu between nature and art. Self- knowledge is the beginning of self-improve- ment. There be some whose humours are so monstrous that they are always under the influence of one or other of them, and put them in place of their real inclinations. They
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 41
are torn asunder by such disharmony and get involved in contradictory obligations. Such excesses not only destroy firmness of will ; all power of judgment gets lost, desire and know- ledge pulling in opposite directions.
Ixx Know how to Refuse.
One ought not to give way in everything nor to everybody. To know how to refuse is therefore as important as to know how to consent. This is especially the case with men of position. All depends on the how. Some men's No is thought more of than the Yes of others : for a gilded No is more satisfactory than a dry Yes. There are some who always have No on their lips, whereby they make everything distasteful. No always comes first with them, and when sometimes they give way after all, it does them no good on account of the unpleasing herald. Your refusal need not be point-blank : let the disappointment come by degrees. Nor let the refusal be final ; that would be to destroy dependence ; let some spice of hope remain to soften the rejection. Let politeness compensate and fine words supply the place of deeds. Yes and No are soon said, but give much to think over.
42 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Ixxl Do not Vacillate.
Let not your actions be abnormal either from disposition or afFectation. An able man is always the same in his best qualities ; he gets the credit of trustworthiness. If he changes, he does so for good reason or good consideration. In matters of conduct change is hateful. There are some who are different every day ; their intelligence varies, still more their will, and with this their fortune. Yesterday's white is to-day's black: to-day's No was yesterday's Yes. They always give the lie to their own credit and destroy their credit with others.
Ixxii Be Resolute.
Bad execution of your designs does less harm than irresolution in forming them. Streams do less harm flowing than when dammed up. There are some men so infirm of purpose that they always require direction from others, and this not on account of any perplexity, for they judge clearly, but from sheer incapacity for action. It needs some skill to find out diffi- culties, but more to find a way out of them. There are others who are never in straits . their clear judgment and determined character
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 43
fit them for the highest callings : their intelligence tells them where to insert the thin end of the wedge, their resolution how to drive it home. They soon get through anything : as soon as they have done with one sphere of action, they are ready for another. AfEanced to Fortune, they make themselves sure of success.
Ixxiii Utilise Slips.
That is how smart people get out of difficulties. They extricate themselves from the most intri- cate labyrinth by some witty application of a bright remark. They get out of a serious con- tention by an airy nothing or by raising a smile. Most of the great leaders are well grounded in this art. When you have to re- fuse, it is often the polite way to talk of some- thing else. Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand.
Ixxiv Do not be Unsociable.
The truest wild beasts live in the most populous places. To be inaccessible is the fault of those who distrust themselves, whose honours change their manners. It is no way of earning people's goodwill by being ill-tempered
44 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
with them. It is a sight to see one of those unsociable monsters who make a point of being proudly impertinent. Their dependants who have the misfortune to be obliged to speak with them, enter as if prepared for a fight with a tiger armed with patience and with fear. To obtain their post these persons must have ingratiated themselves with every one, but having once obtained it they seek to indemnify themselves by disobliging all. It is a condition of their position that they should be accessible to all, yet, from pride or spleen, they are so to none. 'Tis a civil way to punish such men by letting them alone, and depriving them of opportunities of improvement by granting them no opportunity of intercourse.
Ixxv Choose an Heroic Ideal;
but rather to emulate than to imitate. There are exemplars of greatness, living texts of honour. Let every one have before his mind the chief of his calling not so much to follow him as to spur himself on. Alexander wept not on account of Achilles dead and buried, but over himself, because his fame had not yet spread throughout the world. Nothing arouses ambition so much in the heart as the trumpet-clang of another's fame. The same
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 45
thing that sharpens envy, nourishes a generous spirit.
Ixxvi Do not always be Jesting.
Wisdom is shown in serious matters, and is more appreciated than mere wit. He that is always ready for jests is never ready for serious things. They resemble liars in that men never believe either, always expecting a lie in one, a joke in the other. One never knows when you speak with judgment, which is the same as if you had none. A continual jest soon loses all zest. Many get the repute of being witty, but thereby lose the credit of being sensible. Jest has its little hour, seriousness should have all the rest.
Ixxvii Be all Things to all Men
— a discreet Proteus, learned with the learned, saintly with the sainted. It is the great art to gain every one's suffrages ; their goodwill gains general agreement. Notice men's moods and adapt yourself to each, genial or serious as the case may be. Follow their lead, glossing over the changes as cunningly as possible. This is an indispensable art for dependent persons. But this savoir faire calls for great cleverness. He only will find no difficulty who has a
46 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
universal genius in his knowledge and universal ingenuity in his wit.
Ixxviii The Art of undertaking 1^ kings.
Fools rush in through the door ; for folly is always bold. The same simplicity which robs them of all attention to precautions 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 is freed from danger by caution, while fortune some- times helps in such cases. Step cautiously where you suspect depth. Sagacity goes cautiously forward while precaution covers the ground. Nowadays there are unsuspected depths in human intercourse, you must there- fore cast the lead at every step.
Ixxix A Genial Disposition.
If with moderation 'tis an accomplishment, not a defect. A grain of gaiety seasons all. The greatest men join in the fun at times, and it makes them liked by all. But they should always on such occasions preserve their dignity, nor go beyond the bounds of decorum. Others,
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 47
again, get themselves out of difficulty quickest by a joke. For there are things you must take in fun, though others perhaps mean them in earnest. You show a sense of placability, which acts as a magnet on all hearts.
Ixxx T^ake care to get Information.
We live by information, not by sight. We exist by faith in others. The ear is the area- gate of truth but the front-door of lies. The truth is generally seen, rarely heard ; seldom she comes in elemental purity, especially from afar; there is always some admixture of the moods of those through whom she has passed. The passions tinge her with their colours wherever they touch her, sometimes favourably, sometimes the reverse. She always brings out the disposition, therefore receive her with caution from him that praises, with more caution from him that blames. Pay attention to the intention of the speaker ; you should know beforehand on what footing he comes. Let reflection assay falsity and exaggeration.
Ixxxi Renew ^ our Brilliance.
'Tis the privilege of the Phoenix. Ability is wont to grow old, and with it fame. The
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48 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
staleness of custom weakens admiration, and a mediocrity that's new often eclipses the highest excellence grown old. Try therefore to be born again in valour, in genius, in fortune, in all. Display startling novelties, rise afres-h like the sun every day. Change too the scene on which you shine, so that your loss may be felt in the old scenes of your triumph, while the novelty of your powers wins you applause in the new.
Ixxxii Drain Nothing to the Dregs, neither Good nor III.
A sage once reduced all virtue to the golden mean. Push right to the extreme and it becomes wrong : press all the juice from an orange and it becomes bitter. Even in enjoy- ment never go to extremes. Thought too subtle is dull. If you milk a cow too much you draw blood, not milk.
Ixxxiii Allow Yourself some venial Fault.
Some such carelessness is often the greatest recommendation of talent. For envy exercises ostracism, most envenomed when most polite. It counts it to perfection as a failing that it has no faults ; for being perfect in all it condemns
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 49
it in all. It becomes an Argus, all eyes for imperfection : 'tis its only consolation. Blame is like the lightning ; it hits the highest. Let Homer nod now and then and affect some negligence in valour or in intellect — not in prudence — so as to disarm malevolence, or at least to prevent its bursting with its own venom. You thus leave your cloak on the horns of Envy in order to save your immortal parts.
Ixxxiv Make use of your Enemies,
You should learn to seize thmgs not by the blade, which cuts, but by the handle, which saves you from harm : especially is this the rule with the doings of your enemies. A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. Their ill-will often levels mountains of difficulties which one would otherwise not face. Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies. Flattery is more dangerous than hatred, because it covers the stains which the other causes to be wiped out. The wise will turn ill-will into a mirror more faithful than that of kindness, and remove or improve the faults referred to. Caution thrives well when rivalry and ill-will are next-door neighbours.
50 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Ixxxv Do not play Manille.
It is a fault of excellence that being so much in use it is liable to abuse. Because all covet it, all are vexed by it. It is a great misfortune to be of use to nobody ; scarcely less to be of use to everybody. People who reach this stage lose by gaining, and at last bore those who desired them before. These Manilles wear away all kinds of excellence : losing the earlier esteem of the few, they obtain discredit among the vulgar. The remedy against this extreme is to moderate your brilliance. Be extra- ordinary in your excellence, if you like, but be ordinary in your display of it. The more light a torch gives, the more it burns away and the nearer 'tis to going out. Show yourself less and you will be rewarded by being esteemed more.
Ixxxvi Prevent Scandal.
Many heads go to make the mob, and in each of them are eyes for malice to use and a tongue for detraction to wag. If a single ill report spread, it casts a blemish on your fair fame, and if it clings to you with a nickname, your reputation is in danger. Generally it is some salient defect or ridiculous trait that gives rise to the rumours. At times these are
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 51
malicious additions of private envy to general distrust. For there are wicked tongues that ruin a great reputation more easily by a witty sneer than by a direct accusation. It is easy to get into bad repute, because it is easy to believe evil of any one : it is not easy to clear yourself. The wise accordingly avoid these mischances, guarding against vulgar scandal with sedulous vigilance. It is far easier to prevent than to rectify.
Ixxxvii Culture and Elegance.
Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture. Culture therefore makes the man ; the more a man, the higher. Thanks to it, Greece could call the rest of the world barbarians. Ignorance is very raw ; nothing contributes so much to culture as knowledge. But even knowledge is coarse if without elegance. Not alone must our intelligence be elegant, but our desires, and above all our conversation. Some men are naturally elegant in internal and external qualities, in their thoughts, in their address, in their dress, which is the rind of the soul, and in their talents, which is its fruit. There are others, on the other hand, so gauche that every- thing about them, even their very excellences.
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52 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
is tarnished by an intolerable and barbaric want of neatness.
Ixxxviii Let your Behaviour be Fine and Noble.
A great man ought not to be little in his behaviour. He ought never to pry too minutely into things, least of all in unpleasant matters. For though it is important to know all, it is not necessary to know all about all. One ought to act in such cases with the generosity of a gentleman, conduct worthy of a gallant man. To overlook forms a large part of the work of ruling. Most things must be left unnoticed among relatives and friends, and even among enemies. All superfluity is annoying, especially in things that annoy. To keep hovering around the object or your annoyance is a kind of mania. Generally speaking, every man behaves according to his heart and his understanding.
Ixxxix Knozv Yourself
— in talents and capacity, in judgment and inclination. You cannot master yourself unless you know yourself. There are mirrors for the face but none for the mind. Let careful thought about yourself serve as a substitute.
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 53
When the outer image is forgotten, keep the inner one to improve and perfect. Learn the force of your intellect and capacity for affairs, test the force of your courage in order to apply it, and keep your foundations secure and your head clear for everything.
xc The Secret of Long Life
Lead a good life. Two things bring life speedily to an end : folly and immorality. Some lose their life because they have not the intelligence to keep it, others because they have not the will. Just as virtue is its own reward, so is vice its own punishment. He who lives a fast life runs through life in a double sense. A virtuous life never dies. The firmness of the soul is communicated to the body, and a good life is long not only in intention but also in extension.
xci Never set to work at anything if you have any doubts of its Prudence.
A suspicion of failure in the mind of the doer is proof positive of it in that of the onlooker, especially if he is 3. rival. If in the heat of action your judgment feels scruples, it will after- wards in cool reflection condemn it as a piece
54 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
of folly. Action is dangerous where prudence is in doubt : better leave such things alone. Wisdom does not trust to probabilities; it always marches in the mid-day light of reason. How can an enterprise succeed which the judgment condemns as soon as conceived ? And if resolutions passed nem. con. by inner court often turn out unfortunately, what can we expect of those undertaken by a doubting reason and a vacillating judgment ?
xcii Transcendant Wisdom.
I mean in everything. The first and highest rule of all deed and speech, the more necessary to be followed the higher and more numerous our posts, is : an ounce of wisdom is worth more than tons of cleverness. It is the only sure way, though it may not gain so much applause. The reputation of wisdom is the last triumph of fame. It is enough if you satisfy the wise, for their judgment is the touch- stone of true success.
xciii Versatility.
A man of many excellences equals many men. By imparting his own enjoyment of life to his circle he enriches their life. Variety in
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 55
excellences is the delight of life. It is a great art to profit by all that is good, and since Nature has made man in his highest development an abstract of herself, so let Art create in him a true microcosm by training his taste and intel- lect.
xciv 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 desires to be honoured by all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.
xcv Keep Expectation alive.
Keep stirring it up. Let much promise more, and great deeds herald greater. Do not rest your whole fortune on a single cast of the die. It requires great skill to moderate your forces so as to keep expectation from being dissipated.
xcvi The highest Discretion. It is the throne of reason, the foundation of
56 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
prudence : by its means success is gained at little cost. It is a gift from above, and should be prayed for as the first and best quality. 'Tis the main piece of the panoply, and so important that its absence makes a man imperfect, where- as with other qualities it is merely a question of more or less. All the actions of life depend on its application ; all require its assistance, for everything needs intelligence. Discretion con- sists in a natural tendency to the most rational course, combined with a liking for the surest.
xcvii Obtain and preserve a Reputation.
It is the usufruct of fame. It is expensive to obtain a reputation, for it only attaches to distinguished abilities, which are as rare as mediocrities are common. Once obtained, it is easily preserved. It confers many an obligation, but it does more. When it is owing to elevated powers or lofty spheres of action, it rises to a kind of veneration and yields a sort of majesty. But it is only a well-founded repu- tation that lasts permanently.
xcviii Write your Intentions in Cypher,
The passions are the gates of the soul. The most practical knowledge consists in disguising
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them. He that plays with cards exposed runs a risk of losing the stakes. The reserve of caution should combat the curiosity of inquirers : adopt the policy of the cuttlefish. Do not even let your tastes be known, lest others utilise them either by running counter to them or by flattering them.
xcix Reality and Appearance.
Things pass for what they seem, not for what they are. Few see inside ; many take to the outside. It is not enough to be right, if right seem false and ill.
c A Man without Illusions, a wise Christian, a philosophic Courtier.
Be all these, not merely seem to be them, still less afi^ect to be them. Philosophy is nowadays discredited, but yet it was always the chiefest concern of the wise. The art of thinking has lost all its former repute. Seneca introduced it at Rome : it went to court for some time, but now it is considered out of place there. And yet the discovery of deceit was always thought the true nourishment of a thoughtful mind, the true delight of a virtuous soul.
58 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
ci One half of the World laughs at the other , and Fools are they all.
Everything is good or everything is bad according to the votes they gain. What one pursues another persecutes. He is an in- sufferable ass that would regulate everything according to his ideas. Excellences do not depend on a single man's pleasure. So many men, so many tastes, all different. There is no defect which is not affected by some, nor need we lose heart if things please not some, for others will appreciate them. Nor need their applause turn our head, tor there will surely be others to condemn. The real test of praise is the approbation of famous men and of experts in the matter. You should aim to be independent of any one vote, of any one fashion, of any one century.
cii Be able to stomach big slices of Luck.
In the body of wisdom not the least import- ant organ is a big stomach, for great capacity implies great parts. Big bits of luck do not embarrass one who can digest still bigger ones. What is a surfeit for one may be hunger for another. Many are troubled as it were with weak digestion, owing to their small capacity
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 59
being neither born nor trained for great employ- ment. Their actions turn sour, and the humours that arise from their undeserved honours turn their head and they incur great risks in high place : they do not find their proper place, for luck finds no proper place in them. A man of talent therefore should show that he has more room for even greater enter- prises, and above all avoid showing signs of a little heart.
ciii Let each keep up his Dignity.
Let each deed of a man in its degree, though he be not a king, be worthy of a prince, and let his action be princely within due limits. Sublime in action, lofty in thought, in all things like a king, at least in merit if not in might. For true kingship lies in spotless rectitude, and he need not tnvy greatness who can serve as a model of it. Especially should those near the throne aim at true superiority, and prefer to share the true qualities of royalty rather than take parts in its mere ceremonies, yet without affecting its imperfections but sharing in its true dignity.
civ Try ;^our hand at Office.
It requires varied qualities, and to know which is needed taxes attention and calls for masterly
6o ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
discernment. Some demand courage, others tact. Those that merely require rectitude are the easiest, the most difficult those requiring cleverness. For the former all that is necessary is character ; for the latter all one's attention and zeal may not suffice. 'Tis a troublesome business to rule men, still more fools or block- heads : double sense is needed with those who have none. It is intolerable when an office engrosses a man with fixed hours and a settled routine. Those are better that leave a man free to follow his own devices, combining variety with importance, for the change re- freshes the mind. The most in repute are those that have least or most distant depend- ence on others ; the worst is that which worries us both here and hereafter.
cv DoT^t be a Bore.
The man of one business or of one topic is apt to be heavy. Brevity flatters and does better business ; it gains by courtesy what it loses by curtness. Good things, when short, are twice as good. The quintessence of the matter is more effective than a whole farrago of details. It is a well-known truth that talk- ative folk rarely have much sense whether in dealing with the matter itself or its formal
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 6l
treatment. There are that serve more for stumbling-stones than centrepieces, useless lumber in every one's way. The w^ise avoid being bores, especially to the great, who are fully occupied : it is worse to disturb one of them than all the rest. Well said is soon said.
cvi Do not parade your Position.
To outshine in dignity is more offensive than in personal attractions. To pose as a personage is to be hated : envy is surely enough. The more you seek esteem the less you obtain It, for it depends on the opinion of others. You cannot take it, but must earn and receive it from others. Great positions require an amount of authority sufficient to make them efficient : without it they cannot be adequately filled. Preserve therefore enough dignity to carry on the duties of the office. Do not enforce respect, but try and create it. Those who insist on the dignity of their office, show they have not deserved it, and that it is too much for them. If you wish to be valued, be valued for your talents, not for anything adventitious. Even kings prefer to be hon- oured for their personal qualifications rather than for their station.
62 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
cvii Show no Self-satisfaction.
You must neither be discontented with your- self— and that were poor-spirited — nor self- satisfied — and that is folly. Self-satisfaction arises mostly from, ignorance : it would be a happy ignorance not without its advantages it It did not injure our credit. Because a man cannot achieve the superlative perfections of others, he contents himself with any mediocre talent of his own. Distrust is wise, and even useful, either to evade mishaps or to afford con- solation when they come, for a misfortune can- not surprise a man who has already feared it. Even Homer nods at times, and Alexander fell from his lofty state and out of his illusions. Things depend on many circumstances : what constitutes triumph in one set may cause a defeat in another. In the midst of all incor- rigible folly remains the same with empty self- satisfaction, blossoming, flowering, and running all to seed.
cviii The Path to Greatness is along with Others.
Intercourse works well : manners and taste are shared : good sense and even talent grow insensibly. Let the sanguine man then make a comrade of the lymphatic, and so with the other
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 63
temperaments, so that without any forcing the golden mean is obtained. It is a great art to agree with others. The alternation of con- traries beautifies and sustains the world : if it can cause harmony in the physical world, still more can it do so in the moral. Adopt this policy in the choice of friends and defendants ; by joining extremes the more effective middle way is found.
cix Be not Censorious.
There are men of gloomy character who regard everything as faulty, not from any evil motive but because it is their nature to. They condemn all : these for what they have done, those for what they will do. This indicates a nature worse than cruel, vile indeed. They accuse with such exaggeration that they make out of motes beams wherewith to force out the eyes. They are always taskmasters who could turn a paradise into a prison ; if passion inter- venes they drive matters to the extreme. A noble nature, on the contrary, always knows how to find an excuse for failings, if not in the intention, at least from oversight.
ex Do fiot wait till you are a Sinking Sun. 'Tis a maxim of the wise to leave things
64 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
before things leave them. One should be able to snatch a triumph at the end, just as the sun even at its brightest often retires behind a cloud so as not to be seen sinking, and to leave in doubt whether he has sunk or no. Wisely withdraw from the chance of mishaps, lest you have to do so from the reality Do not wait till they turn you the cold shoulder and carry you to the grave, alive in feeling but dead in esteem. Wise trainers put racers to grass before they arouse derision by falling on the course. A beauty should break her mirror early, lest she do so later with open eyes.
cxi Have Friends.
'Tis a second existence. Every friend is good and wise for his friend : among them all everything turns to good. Every one is as others wish him; that they may wish him well, he must win their hearts and so their tongues. There is no magic like a good turn, and the way to gain friendly feelings is to do friendly acts. The most and best of us depend on others ; we have to live either among friends or among enemies. Seek some one every day to be a well-wisher if not a friend ; by and by after trial some of these will become intimate.
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 65
cxii Gain Good-will.
For thus the first and highest cause foresees and furthers the greatest objects. By gaining their good-will you gain men's good opinion. Some trust so much to merit that they neglect grace, but wise men know that Service Road without a lift from favour is a long way indeed. Good- will facilitates and supplies everything : it supposes gifts or even supplies them, as courage, zeal, knowledge, or even discretion ; whereas defects it will not see because it does not search for them. It arises from some common interest, either material, as disposition, nationality, rela- tionship, fatherland, office ; or formal, which is of a higher kind of communion, in capacity, obligation, reputation, or merit. The whole difficulty is to gain good-will ; to keep it is easy. It has, however, to be sought for, and, when found, to be utilised.
cxiii /;/ Prosperity prepare for Adversity.
It is both wiser and easier to collect winter stores in summer. In prosperity favours are cheap and friends are many. 'Tis well there- fore to keep them for more unlucky days, for adversity costs dear and has no helpers. Retain a store of friendly and obliged persons ; the
66 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
day may come when their price will go up. Low minds never have friends ; in luck they will not recognise them : in misfortune they will not be recognised by them.
cxiv Never Compete,
Every competition damages the credit : our rivals seize occasion to obscure us so as to out- shine us. Few wage honourable war. Rivalry discloses faults which courtesy would hide. Many have lived in good repute while they had no rivals. The heat of conflict gives life, or even new life, to dead scandals, and digs up long- buried skeletons. Competition begins with be- littling, and seeks aid wherever it can, not only where it ought. And when the weapons of abuse do not effect their purpose, as often or mostly happens, our opponents use them for revenge, and use them at least for beating away the dust of oblivion from anything to our discredit. Men of good-will are always at peace ; men of good repute and dignity are men of good-will.
cxv Get used to the Failings of your Familiars^
as you do to ugly faces. It is indispensable if they depend on us, or we on them. There
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 67
are wretched characters with whom one cannot live, nor yet without them. Therefore clever folk get used to them, as to ugly faces, so that they are not obliged to do so suddenly under the pressure of necessity. At first they arouse disgust, but gradually they lose this influence, and reflection provides for disgust or puts up with it.
cxvi Only act with Honourable Men.
You can trust them and they you. Their honour is the best surety of their behaviour even in misunderstandings, for they always act having regard to what they are. Hence 'tis better to have a dispute with honourable people than to have a victory over dishonourable ones. You cannot treat with the ruined, for they have no hostages for rectitude. With them there is no true friendship, and their agreements are not binding, however stringent they may appear, because they have no feeling of honour. Never have to do with such men, for if honour does not restrain a man, virtue will not, since honour is the throne of rectitude.
cxvii Never talk of Yourself.
You must either praise yourself, which is vain, or blame yourself, which is little-minded :
68 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
it ill beseems him that speaks, and ill pleases him that hears. And if you should avoid this in ordinary conversation, how much more in official matters, and above all, in public speaking, where every appearance of unwisdom really is unwise. The same want of tact lies in speaking of a man in his presence, owing to the danger of going to one of two extremes : flattery or censure.
cxviii Acquire the Reputation of Courtesy ;
for it is enough to make you liked. Polite- ness is the main ingredient of culture, — a kind of witchery that wins the regard of all as surely as discourtesy gains their disfavour and opposi- tion ; if this latter springs from pride, it is abominable ; if from bad breeding, it is despic- able. Better too much courtesy than too little, provided it be not the same for all, which degenerates into injustice. Between opponents it is especially due as a proof of valour. It costs little and helps much : every one is honoured who gives honour. Politeness and honour have this advantage, that they renjain with him who displays them to others.
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cxix Avoid becoming Disliked.
There is no occasion to seek dislike : it comes without seeking quickly enough. There are many who hate of their own accord with- out knowing the why or the how. Their ill- will outruns our readiness to please. Their ill-nature is more prone to do others harm than their cupidity is eager to gain advantage for themselves. Some manage to be on bad terms with all, because they always either pro- duce or experience vexation of spirit. Once hate has taken root it is, like bad repute, dit- ficult to eradicate. Wise men are feared, the malevolent are abhorred, the arrogant are re- garded with disdain, buffoons with contempt, eccentrics with neglect. Therefore pay respect that you may be respected, and know that to be esteemed you must show esteem,
cxx Live Practically.
Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not it is wise to affect ignor- ance. Thought and taste change with the times. Do not be old-fashioned in your ways of thinking, and let your taste be in the modern style. In everything the taste of the many carries the votes ; for the time being
70 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
one must follow it in the hope of leading it to higher things. In the adornment of the body as of the mind adapt yourself to the present, even though the past appear better. But this rule does not apply to kindAess, for goodness is for all time. It is neglected nowadays and seems out of date. Truth-speaking, keeping your word, and so too good people, seem to come from the good old times : yet they are liked for all that, but in such a way that even when they all exist they are not in the fashion and are not imitated. What a misfortune for our age that it regards virtue as a stranger and vice as a matter of course ! If you are wise, live as you can, if you cannot live as you would. Think more highly of what fate has given you than of what it has denied.
cxxi Do not make a Business of what is no Business.
As some make gossip out of everything, so others business. They always talk big, take everything in earnest, and turn it into a dis- pute or a secret. Troublesome things must not be taken too seriously if they can be avoided. It is preposterous to take to heart that which you should throw over your shoulders. Much that would be something has become nothing by
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 7I
being left alone, and what was nothing has be- come of consequence by being made much of. At the outset things can be easily settled, but not afterwards. Often the remedy causes the disease. 'Tis by no means the least of life's rules : to let things alone.
cxxii Distinction in Speech and Action.
By this you gain a position in many places and carry esteem beforehand. It shows itself m everything, in talk, in look, even in gait. It is a great victory to conquer men's hearts : it does not arise from any foolish presumption or pompous talk, but in a becoming tone of authority born of superior talent combined with true merit.
cxxiii Avoid Affectation.
The more merit, the less affectation, which gives a vulgar flavour to all. It is wearisome to others and troublesome to the one affected, for he becomes a martyr to care and tortures himself with attention. The most eminent merits lose most by it, for they appear proud and artificial instead of being the product of nature, and the natural is always more pleasing than the artificial. One always feels sure that
72 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
the man who affects a virtue has it not. The more pains you take with a thing, the more should you conceal them, so that it may appear to arise spontaneously from your own natural character. Do not, however, in avoiding affect- ation fall into it by affecting to be unaffected. The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them. He is twice great who has all the perfections in the opinion of all except of himself; he attains applause by two opposite paths.
cxxiv Get Yourself missed.
Few reach such favour with the many ; if with the wise 'tis the height of happiness. When one has finished one's work, coldness is the general rule. But there are ways of earning this reward of goodwill. The sure way is to excel in your office and talents : add to this agreeable manner and you reach the point where you become necessary to your office, not your office to you. Some do honour to their post, with others 'tis the other way. It is no great gain if a poor successor makes the predecessor seem good, for this does not imply that the one is missed, but that the other is wished away.
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cxxv Do not be a Black List.
It is a sign of having a tarnished name to concern oneself with the ill-fame of others. Some wish to hide their own stains with those of others, or at least wash them away : or they seek consolation therein — 'tis the con- solation of fools. They must have bad breath who form the sewers of scandal for the whole town. The more one grubs about in such matters, the more one befouls oneself. There are few without stain somewhere or other, but it is of little known people that the failings are little known. Be careful then to avoid being a registrar of faults. That is to be an abomin- able thing, a man that lives without a heart.
cxxvi Folly consists not in committing Folly^ hut in not hiding it when committed.
You should keep your desires sealed up, still more your defects. All go wrong sometimes, but the wise try to hide the errors, but fools boast of them. Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is done ; if a man does not live chastely, he must live cautiously. The errors of great men are like the eclipses of the greater lights. Even in friendship it is rare to expose one's failings
74 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
to one's friend. Nay, one should conceal them from oneself if one can. But here one can help with that other great rule of life : learn to forget.
cxxvii Grace in Everything,
'Tis the life of talents, the breath of speech, the soul of action, and the ornament of orna- ment. Perfections are the adornment of our nature, but this is the adornment of perfection itself. It shows itself even in the thoughts. 'Tis most a gift of nature and owes least to education ; it even triumphs over training. It is more than ease, approaches the free and easy, gets over embarrassment, and adds the finish- ing touch to perfection. Without it beauty is lifeless, graciousness ungraceful : it surpasses valour, discretion, prudence, even majesty it- self. 'Tis a short way to dispatch and an easy escape from embarrassment.
cxxviii Highmindedness,
One of the principal qualifications tor a gentleman, for it spurs on to all kinds of nobility. It improves the taste, ennobles the heart, elevates the mind, refines the feelings, and intensifies dignity. It raises him in whom
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 75
it is found, and at times remedies the bad turns of Fortune, which only raises by striking. It can find full scope in the will when it cannot be exercised in act. Magnanimity, generosity, and all heroic qualities recognise in it their source.
xxix Never complain.
To complain always brings discredit. Better be a model of self-reliance opposed to the passion of others than an object of their com- passion. For it opens the way for the hearer to what we are complaining of, and to disclose one insult forms an excuse for another. By complaining of past offences we give occasion •for future ones, and in seeking aid or counsel we only obtain indifference or contempt. It is much more politic to praise one man's favours, so that others may feel obliged to follow suit. To recount the favours we owe the absent is to demand similar ones from the present, and thus we sell our credit with the one to the other. The shrewd will therefore never publish to the world his failures or his defects, but only those marks of consideration which serve to keep friendship alive and enmity silent.
76 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
cxxx Do and be seen Doing,
Things do not pass for what they are but for what they seem. To be of use and to know how to show yourself of use, is to be twice as useful. What is not seen is as if it was not. Even the Right does not receive proper consideration if it does not seem right. The observant are far fewer in number than those who are deceived by appearances. Deceit rules the roast, and things are judged by their jackets, and many things are other than they seem. A good exterior is the best recom- mendation of the inner perfection.
cxxxi Nohility of Feeling.
There is a certain distinction of the soul, a highmindedness prompting to gallant acts, that gives an air of grace to the whole character. It is not found often, for it presupposes great mag- nanimity. Its chief characteristic is to speak well of an enemy, and to act even better to- wards him. It shines brightest when a chance comes of revenge : not alone does it let the occasion pass, but it improves it by using a complete victory in order to display unexpected generosity. 'Tis a fine stroke of policy, nay, the very acme of statecraft. It makes no pre-
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ART OF WORLDLY WLSDOM 77
tence to victory, for it pretends to nothing, and while obtaining its deserts it conceals its merits.
cxxxii Revise your Judgments.
To appeal to an inner Court of Revision makes things safe. Especially when the course of action is not clear, you gain time either to confirm or improve your decision. It affords new grounds for strengthening or corroborating your judgment. And if it is a matter of giving, the gift is the more valued from its being evidently well considered than for being promptly bestowed : long expected is highest prized. And if you have to deny, you gain time to decide how and when to mature the No that it may be made palatable. Besides, after the first heat of desire is passed the repulse of refusal is felt less keenly in cold blood. But especially when men press for a reply is it best to defer it, for as often as not that is only a feint to disarm attention.
cxxxiii Better Mad with the rest of the World than Wise alone.
So say politicians. If all are so, one is no worse off than the rest, whereas solitary wisdom passes for folly. So important is it to sail with
78 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
the stream. The greatest wisdom often con- sists in ignorance, or the pretence of it. One has to live with others, and others are mostly- ignorant. " To live entirely alone one must be very like a god or quite like a wild beast," but I would turn the aphorism by saying : Better be wise with the many than a fool all alone. There be some too who seek to be original by seeking chimeras.
cxxxiv Double ^our Resources.
You thereby double your life. One must not depend on one thing or trust to only one resource, however pre-eminent. Everything should be kept double, especially the causes of success, of favour, or of esteem. The moon's mutability transcends everything and gives a limit to all existence, especially of things dependent on human will, the most brittle of all things. To guard against this inconstancy should be the sage's care, and for this the chief rule of life is to keep a double store of good and useful qualities. Thus as Nature gives us in duplicate the most important of our limbs and those most exposed to risk, so Art should deal with the qualities on which we depend for success.
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 79
cxxxv Do not nourish the Spirit of Contradiction.
It only proves you foolish or peevish, and prudence should guard against this strenuously. To find difficulties in everything may prove you clever, but such wrangling writes you down a fool. Such folk make a mimic war out of the most pleasant conversation, and in this way act as enemies towards their associates rather than towards those with whom they do not consort. Grit grates most in delicacies, and so does contradiction in amusement. They are both foolish and cruel who yoke together the wild beast and the tame.
cxxxvi Post Yourself in the Centre of Things.
So you feel the pulse of affairs. Many lose their way either in the ramifications of useless discussion or in the brushwood of wearisome verbosity without ever realising the real matter at issue. They go over a single point a hun- dred times, wearying themselves and others, and yet never touch the all -important centre or affairs. This comes from a confusion of mind from which they cannot extricate themselves. They waste time and patience on matters they should leave alone, and cannot spare them afterwards for what they have left alone.
8o ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
cxxxvii The Sage should be Self-sufficing
He that was all in all to himself carried ail with him when he carried himself. If a uni- versal friend can represent to us Rome and the rest of the world, let a man be his own universal friend, and then he is in a position to live alone. Whom could such a man want if there is no clearer intellect or finer taste than his own ? He would then depend on himself alone, which is the highest happiness and like the Supreme Being. He that can live alone resembles the bru.te beast in nothing, the sage in much and God in everything.
cxxxviii The Art of letting Things alone.
The more so the wilder the waves of public or of private life. There are hurricanes in human affairs, tempests of passion, when it is wise to retire to a harbour and ride at anchor. Remedies often make diseases worse : in such cases one has to leave them to their natural course and the moral suasion of time. It takes a wise doctor to know when not to prescribe, and at times the greater skill consists in not applying remedies. The proper way to still the storms of the vulgar is to hold your hand and let them calm down of themselves. To
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ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 8l
give way now is to conquer by and by. A fountain gets muddy with but little stirring up, and does not get clear by our meddling with it but by our leaving it alone. The best remedy for disturbances is to let them run their course, for so they quiet down.
cxxxix Recognise unlucky Days.
They exist : nothing goes well on them ; even though the game may be changed the ill- luck remains. Two tries should be enough to tell if one is in luck to-day or not. Every- thing is in process of change, even the mind, and no one is always wise : chance has some- thing to say, even how to write a good letter. All perfection turns on the time ; even beauty has its hours. Even wisdom fails at times by doing too much or too little. To turn out well a thing must be done on its own day. This is why with some everything turns out ill, with others all goes well, even with less trouble. They find everything ready, their wit prompt, their presiding genius favourable, their lucky star in the ascendant. At such times one must seize the occasion and not throw away the slightest chance. But a shrewd person will not decide on the day's
82 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
luck by a single piece of good or bad fortune, for the one may be only a lucky chance and the other only a slight annoyance.
cxl Find the Good in a Thing at once,
'Tis the advantage of good taste. The bee goes to the honey for her comb, the serpent to the gall for its venom. So with taste : some seek the good, others the ill. There is nothing that has no good in it, especially in books, as giving food for thought. But many have such a scent that amid a thousand excel- lences they fix upon a single defect, and single it out for blame as if they were scavengers of men's minds and hearts. So they draw up a balance sheet of defects which does more credit to their bad taste than to their intelligence. They lead a sad life, nourishing themselves on bitters and battening on garbage. They have the luckier taste who midst a thousand defects seize upon a single beauty they may have hit upon by chance.
cxli Do not listen to Yourself,
It is no use pleasing yourself if you do not please others, and as a rule general contempt is the punishment for self-satisfaction. The
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attention you pay to yourself you probably owe to others. To speak and at the same time listen to yourself cannot turn out well. If to talk to oneself when alone is folly, it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others. It is a weakness of the great to talk with a recurrent " as I was saying" and " eh ? " which bewilders their hearers. At every sen- tence they look for applause or flattery, taxing the patience of the wise. So too the pompous speak with an echo, and as their talk can only totter on with the aid of stilts, at every word they need the support of a stupid " bravo ! "
cxlii Never from Obstinacy take the Wrong Bide
because your Opponent has anticipated ^ou in
taking the Right One.
You begin the fight already beaten and must soon take to flight in disgrace. With bad weapons one can never win. It was astute in the opponent to seize the better side first : it would be folly to come lagging after with the worst. Such obstinacy is more dangerous in actions than in words, for action encounters more risk than talk. 'Tis the common failing of the obstinate that they lose the true by contradicting it, and the useful by
84 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
quarrelling with it. The sage never places himself on the side of passion, but espouses the cause of right, either discovering it first or improving it later. If the enemy is a fool, he will in such a case turn round to follow the opposite and worse way. Thus the only way to drive him from the better course is to take it yourself, for his folly will cause him to desert it, and his obstinacy be punished for 8o doing.
cxliii Never become Paradoxical in order to avoid the Trite.
Both extremes damage our reputation. Every undertaking which differs from the reasonable approaches foolishness. The para- dox is a cheat : it wins applause at first by its novelty and piquancy, but afterwards it becomes discredited when the deceit is fore- seen and its emptiness becomes apparent. It is a species of jugglery, and in matters political would be the ruin of states. Those who cannot or dare not reach great deeds on the direct road of excellence go round by way of Paradox, admired by fools but making wise men true prophets. It argues an unbalanced judgment, and if it is not
ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM 85
altogether based on the false, it is certainly founded on the uncertain, and risks the weightier matters of life.
cxliv Begin with Another's to end with your Own.
'Tis a politic means to your end. Even in heavenly matters Christian teachers lay stress on this holy cunning. It is a weighty piece of dissimulation, for the foreseen advantages serve as a lure to influence the other's will. His affair seems to be in train when it is really only leading the way for another's. One should never advance unless under cover, especially where the ground is dangerous. Likewise with persons who always say No at first, it is useful to ward off this blow, because the difficulty of conceding much more does not occur to them when your version is pre- sented to them. This advice belongs to the rule about second thoughts [xiii], which covers the most subtle manoeuvres of life.
cxlv Do not show your zuounded Finger,
for everything will knock up against it ; nor complain about it, for malice always aims where weakness can be injured. It is no use to be vexed : being the butt of the talk will only vex
86 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
you the more. Ill-will searches for wounds to irritate, aims darts to try the temper, and tries a thousand ways to sting to the quick. The wise never own to being hit, or disclose any evil, whether personal or hereditary. For even Fate sometimes likes to wound us where we are most tender. It always mortifies wounded flesh. Never therefore disclose the source of mortification or of joy, if you wish the one to cease, the other to endure.
cxlvi Look into the Interior of Things,
Things are generally other than they seem, and ignorance that never looks beneath the rind becomes disabused when you show the kernel. Lies always come first, dragging fools along by their irreparable vulgarity. Truth always lags last, limping along on the arm of Time. The wise therefore reserve for it the other half of that power which the common mother has wisely given in duplicate. Deceit is very superficial, and the superficial therefore easily fall into it. Prudence lives retired within its recesses, visited only by sages and wise men.
cxlvii Do not be Inaccessible, None is so perfect that he does not need
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at times the advice of others. He is an in- corrigible ass who will never listen to any one. Even the most surpassing intellect should find a place for friendly counsel. Sovereignty itself must learn to lean. There are some that are incorrigible simply because they are inaccess- sible : they fall to ruin because none dares to extricate them. The highest should have the door open for friendship ; it may prove the gate of help. A friend must be free to advise, and even to upbraid, without feeling embarrassed. Our satisfaction in him and our trust in his steadfast faith give him that power. One need not pay respect or give credit to every one, but in the innermost of his precaution man has a true mirror of a confidant to whom he owes the correction of his errors, and has to thank for it.
cxlviii Have the Art of Conversation,
That is where the real personality shows Itself. No act in life requires more attention, though it be the commonest thing in life. You must either lose or gain by it. If it needs care to write a letter which is but a deliberate and written conversation, how much more the ordinary kind in which there
88 ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM
is occasion for a prompt display of intelligence ? Experts feel the pulse of the soul in the tongue, wherefore the sage said, " Speak, that I may know thee." Some hold that the art of con- versation is to be without art — that it should be neat, not gaudy, like the garments. This holds good for talk between friends. But when held with persons to whom one would show respect, it should be more dignified to answer to the dignity of the person addressed. To be appropriate it should adapt itself to the mind and tone of the interlocutor. And do not be a critic of words, or you will be taken for a pedant ; nor a taxgatherer of ideas, or men will avoid you, or at least sell their thoughts dear. In conversation discretion is more important than eloquence.
cxlix Know how to put off Ills on Others,
To have a shield against ill-will is a great piece of skill in a ruler. It is not the resort of incapacity, as ill-wishers imagine, but is due to the higher policy of having some one to receive the censure of the disaffected and the punishment of universal detestation. Every- thing cannot turn out well, nor can every one be satisfied : it is well therefore, even at the
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cost of our pride, to have such a scapegoat, such a target for unlucky undertakings.
cl Know to get your Price for Things.
Their intrinsic value is not sufficient ; for all do not bite at the kernel or look into the interior. Most go with the crowed, and go because they see others go. It is a great stroke of art to bring things into repute ; at times by praising them, for praise arouses desire ; at times by giving them a striking name, which is very useful for putting things at a premium, provided it is done without affectation. Again, it is gener- ally an inducement to profess to supply only connoisseurs, for all think themselves such, and if not, the sense of want arouses the desire. Never call things easy or common : that makes them depreciated rather than made accessible. All rush after the unusual, which is more appetising both for the taste and for the intelligence.
cli Think beforehand.
To-day for to-morrow, and even for many days hence. The greatest foresight consists in determining beforehand the time of trouble. For the provident there are no mischances and
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for the careful no narrow escapes. We must not put off thought till we are up to the chin in mire. Mature reflection can get over the most formidable difficulty. The pillow is a silent Sibyl, and it is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them after- wards. Many act first and then think after- wards— that is, they think less of consequences than of excuses : others think neither before nor after. The whole of life should be one course of thought how not to miss the right path. Rumination and foresight enable one to deter- mine the line of life.
ciii Never have a Companion who casts you in the Shade.
The more he does so, the less desirable a companion he is. The more he excels in quality the more in repute : he will always play first fiddle and you second. If you get any consideration, it is only his leavings. The moon shines bright alone among the stars : when the sun rises she becomes either invisible or imperceptible. Never join one that eclipses you, but rather one who sets you in a brighter light. By this means the cunning Fabula in Martial was able to appear beautiful and
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brilliant, owing to the ugliness and disorder of her companions. But one should as little im- peril oneself by an evil companion as pay honour to another at the cost of one's own credit. When you are on the way to fortune associate with the eminent ; when arrived, with the mediocre.
cliii Beware of entering where there is a great Gap to be filled.
But if you do it be sure to surpass your pre- decessor ; merely to equal him requires twice his worth. As it is a fine stroke to arrange that our successor shall cause us to be wished back, so it is policy to see that our predecessor does not eclipse us. To fill a great gap is difficult, for the past always seems best, and to equal the predecessor is not enough, since he has the right of first possession. You must therefore possess additional claims to oust the other from his hold on public opinion.
cliv Do not Believe^ or Like^ lightly.
Maturity of mind is best shown in slow belief. Lying is the usual thing ; then let belief be unusual. He that is lightly led away, soon falls into contempt. At the same
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time there is no necessity to betray your doubts in the good faith of others, for this adds insult to discourtesy, since you make out your in- formant to be either deceiver or deceived. Nor is this the only evil : want of belief is the mark of the liar, vsrho suffers from two failings : he neither believes nor is believed. Suspen- sion of judgment is prudent in a hearer : the speaker can appeal to his original source of in- formation. There is a similar kind of impru- dence in liking too easily, for lies may be told by deeds as well as in words, and this deceit is more dangerous for practical life.
civ The Art of getting into a Passion.
If possible, oppose vulgar importunity with prudent reflection ; it will not be difficult for a really prudent man. The first step towards getting into a passion is to announce that you are in a passion. By this means you begin the conflict with command over your temper, for one has to regulate one's passion to the exact point that is necessary and no further. This is the art of arts in falling into and getting out of a rage. You should know how and when best to come to a stop : it is most difficult to halt while running at the double. It is a great
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proof of wisdom to remain clear-sighted during paroxysms of rage. Every excess of passion is a digression from rational conduct. But by this masterly policy reason will never be trans- gressed, nor pass the bounds of its own synteresis. To keep control of passion one must hold firm the reins of attention : he who can do so will be the first man " wise on horse- back," and probably the last.
clvi Select your Friends.
Only after passing the matriculation of ex- perience and the examination of fortune will they be graduates not alone in afi^ection but in discernment. Though this is the most important thing in life, it is the one least cared for. Intelligence brings friends to some, chance to most. Yet a man is judged by his friends, for there was never agreement between wise men and fools. At the same time, to find pleasure in a man's society is no proof of near friend- ship : it may come from the pleasantness of his company more than from trust in his capacity. There are some friendships legitimate, others illicit ; the latter for pleasure, the former for their fecundity of ideas and motives. Few are the friends of a man's self, most those of
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his circumstances. The insight of a true friend is more useful than the goodwill of others : therefore gain them by choice, not by chance. A wise friend wards off worries, a foolish one brings them about. But do not wish them too much luck, or you may lose them.
clvii Do not make Mistakes about Character.
That is the worst and yet easiest error. Better be cheated in the price than in the quality of goods. In dealing with men, more than with other things, it is necessary to look within. To know men is different from knowing things. It is profound philosophy to sound the depths of feeling and distinguish traits of character. Men must be studied as deeply as books.
clviii Make use of your Friends.
This requires all the art of discretion. Some are good afar off, some when near. Many are no good at conversation but excel- lent as correspondents, for distance removes some failings which are unbearable in close proximity to them. Friends are for use even more than for pleasure, for they have the three qualities of the Good, or, as some say, of Being
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'm general : unity, goodness, and truth. For a friend is all in all. Few are worthy to be good friends, and even these become fewer because men do not know how to pick them out. To keep is more important than to make friends. Select those that will wear well ; if they are new at first, it is some consolation they will become old. Absolutely the best are those well salted, though they may require soaking in the testing. There is no desert like living without friends. Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. 'Tis the sole remedy against misfortune, the very ventilation of the soul.
clix Put up with Fools.
The wise are always impatient, for he that increases knowledge increase impatience of folly. Much knowledge is difficult to satisfy. The first great rule of life, according to Epictetus, is to put up with things : he makes that the moiety of wisdom. To put up with all the varieties of folly would need much patience. We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend : a useful lesson in self-control. Out of patience comes forth peace, the priceless boon which is the happiness
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of the world. But let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself.
clx Be careful in Speaking.
With your rivals from prudence ; with others for the sake of appearance. There is always time to add a word, never to with- draw one. Talk as if you were making your will : the fewer words the less litigation. In trivial matters exercise yourself for the more weighty matters of speech. Profound secrecy has some of the lustre of the divine. He who speaks lightly soon falls or fails.
clxi Know your pet Faults.
The most perfect of men has them, and is either wedded to them or has illicit relations with them. They are often faults of intellect, and the greater this is, the greater they are, or at least the more conspicuous. It is not so much that their possessor does not know them : he loves them, which is a double evil : irrational affection for avoidable faults. They are spots on perfection ; they displease the onlooker as much as they please the possessor. 'Tis a gallant thing to get clear of them, and so give play to one's other qualities. For all
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men hit upon such a failing, and on going over your qualifications they make a long stay at this blot, and blacken it as deeply as possible in order to cast your other talents into the shade.
clxii Hozu to triumph over Rivals and Detractors. It is not enough to despise them, though this is often wise : a gallant bearing is the thing. One cannot praise a man too much who speaks well of them who speak ill of him. There is no more heroic vengeance than that of talents and services which at once conquer and torment the envious. Every success is a further twist of the cord round the neck of the ill-affected, and an enemy's glory is the rival's hell. The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied wins applause. The immortality of his fame is the measure of the other's torture : the one lives in endless honour, the other in endless pain. The clarion of Fame announces immortality to the one and death to the other, the slow death of envy long drawn out.
clxiii Never, from Sympathy with the Unfortunate, involve Yourself in his Fate,
One man's misfortune is another man*s luck,
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for one cannot be lucky without many being unlucky. It is a peculiarity of the unfortunate to arouse people's goodwill who desire to compensate them for the blows of fortune with their useless favour, and it happens that one who was abhorred by all in prosperity is adored by all in adversity. Vengeance on the wing is exchanged for compassion afoot. Yet 'tis to be noticed how fate shuffles the cards. There are men who always consort with the unlucky, and he that yesterday flew high and happy stands to-day miserable at their side. That argues nobility of soul, but not worldly wisdom.
clxiv Throw Straws in the Air, to find how things will be received, especially those whose reception or success is doubtful. One can thus be assured of its turning out well, and an opportunity is afforded for going on in earnest or withdraw- ing entirely. By trying men's intentions in this way, the wise man knows on what ground he stands. This is the great rule of foresight in asking, in desiring, and in ruling.
clxv Wage War Honourably. You may be obliged to wage war, but not to
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use poisoned arrows. Every one must needs act as he is, not as others would make him to be. Gallantry in the battle of life wins all men's praise : one should fight so as to conquer, not alone by force but by the way it is used. A mean victory brings no glory, but rather disgrace. Honour always has