IN
Looking for meaning in any trouble is a meaningless activity. In thoughts with the minority, in speeches with the majority. The surest way to be nice is to always be calm. When you see bad things in people, don’t rejoice, much less discuss them. Gossiper is hated forever. If you say the worst, you will hear the worst. This is the life of a person: at twenty - a peacock, at thirty - a lion, at forty - a camel, at fifty - a snake, at sixty - a dog, at seventy - a monkey, at eighty - nothing. Anyone can become an enemy, but not everyone can become a friend. The highest prudence is to make the difficult decision to leave this world as we found it.
N
Not every truth can be told: keep silent about one for your own sake, about another for the sake of another. Don’t flaunt everything you have—the next day you won’t surprise anyone. Don't chase after too much, strive for depth. The essence of greatness is not quantity, but quality. The excellent is always singular and rare; Whatever there is a lot of, the price is small. Don’t let yourself be entangled by obligations to everyone and everyone - you will become a slave, and a universal one at that... It’s better for many to depend on you than for you to depend on one. Don’t wait until the water comes to your throat, leave early; with mature reflection prevent the cruelty of blows. Don't lie, but don't tell the whole truth. Nothing requires such careful handling as the truth - it is bloodletting from our very heart. Don’t refuse right away, let disappointment come in drop by drop. Do not confide your mistakes to a friend, and even if it were possible, it is better not to know about them yourself. Do not succumb to vulgar mood swings. Great is he who is not subject to whims. It is not the gilder who creates the deity, but the worshiper. If you don’t know how to bear the burden of adversity, you aggravate its severity. Some value books for their volume, as if they were written to exercise the hands, not the mind. Never fight someone who has nothing to lose: it is an unequal fight.
LitLife
Baltasar Gracian
Pocket Oracle or Science of Prudence, which contains aphorisms extracted from the writings of Lorenzo Gracian
1. Everything has already reached maturity, and most of all – the personality.
Nowadays, more is required from one wise man than in ancient times from seven [1], and in dealing with one person in the present time, more skill is needed than in the past with an entire people.
2. Nature and culture
- two rods on which all the advantages flaunt. One without the other is half the battle. Education is not enough, you also need talent. But the trouble with the ignorant is that he is mistaken about his calling in life, about his choice of occupation, his place in his native land, in his circle of friends.
3. Act secretly
. Surprise is the key to success. There is no gain or joy from playing openly. Without announcing your intentions, you will arouse interest, especially where the height of the position gives rise to general expectations, surrounds plans with mystery and this very mystery inspires awe. Even when you want to be understood, avoid frankness and do not allow everyone to indiscriminately penetrate your soul. Silent restraint is the sanctuary of prudence. To announce a plan means ruining it: then they will find shortcomings in it ahead of time, and if it fails, it will turn out to be doubly unfortunate. So, imitate the divine in your conduct of action, so as to always attract intense attention to yourself.
4. Wisdom and Valor
- the basis of greatness. Immortals, they bestow immortality. As much as a man knows, he is a man; the knower is omnipotent. For the ignorant, the world is darkness. Mind and strength - eyes and hands; Without valor, wisdom is fruitless.
5. Let them need you.
It is not the sculptor who creates the idol, but the one who worships the idol. It's better to be asked than to thank you. To rely on vile gratitude is to rob noble hope: as much as the first is forgetful, so the second is memorable. The dependent are more useful than the amiable: having quenched their thirst, they will turn away from the source, and throw the squeezed orange from the gold into the swamp. The end of need is the end of friendship, and with it service. Let it be your first rule in life - to support the need for you, not to satisfy it completely, let them constantly need you, even the crowned patron. But one should not be misled by excessive secrecy, rather than cause harm to one’s neighbor for one’s own good.
6. Human maturity.
People are not born mature, but by improving their personality day by day, becoming more sophisticated in their work, a person achieves the highest maturity, fullness of virtues and advantages - this is reflected in the sophistication of taste, in the sophistication of the mind, in the thoroughness of judgments, in the impeccability of desires. Others never manage to achieve completeness, they are always missing something; others reach it late. An all-perfect husband, wise in speech, prudent in deeds, always pleasant to sensible people, they long to communicate with him.
7. Avoid victories over your superiors.
To win means to arouse hostility, but to defeat your master is unreasonable, and even dangerous. Superiority is hateful, especially to superior persons. If you try hard, you can hide your advantages, just like beauty - with the carelessness of your outfit. Many, especially the powerful of this world, will readily agree that they are inferior to others in luck, in any talents except the mind: the mind reigns over all gifts, the slightest offense to the mind is an insult to its majesty. He who stands high wants to reign in the highest. Their Excellencies desire help, but not superiority; they want the advice to seem like just a reminder of what has been forgotten, and not an explanation of what they do not understand. The stars give us an object lesson: luminous children of the sun, they never dare to outshine its radiance.
8. Mastery over one's passions is a property of the highest greatness of spirit.
This sublimity itself protects the spirit from base influences alien to it. There is no higher power than power over yourself, over your passions, than victory over their self-will. And if passion nevertheless fills a person, do not give her access to rank, much less a high one: this is a worthy way to avoid grief, this is the shortest path to good fame.
9. Get rid of the shortcomings inherent in your fellow countrymen.
Water acquires good or bad properties from the soil through which it flows, and a person - from the region in which he is born. Some owe more to their homeland than others, because they were born under a more favorable sky. Every people, even very enlightened ones, is characterized by some kind of natural defect; neighbors usually notice him with laughter or gloating. Etching or at least covering up these birthmarks is no small art: such a person will become famous as an exception among his fellow countrymen - and what is rare is expensive. There are also disadvantages of family, class, position, age, and if they all come together and a person does not try to get rid of them, then the monster will become unbearable.
10. Happiness and glory.
As much as the first is impermanent, so the second is unchangeable. This is for this life, this is for the afterlife; This one conquers envy, this one conquers oblivion. Happiness is desired and sometimes achieved; deserve the glory. The thirst for good fame is generated by valor. Fame has always been and will remain the sister of giants, it is the companion of extremes: a miracle or a monster, an object of admiration or disgust.
11. Communicate with those from whom you can learn.
May your communication with friends be a school of knowledge, and your conversation an exquisitely pleasant learning experience: look upon your friends as mentors and season the benefits of learning with the pleasure of conversation. The friendship of intelligent people is mutually beneficial: whoever speaks gains in the praise of the listener, and whoever listens gains wisdom. But usually we forget about this, because vanity overshadows profit. The prudent man visits honorable men, whose houses are the grounds of valor, and not the abode of vanity. Enlightened nobles not only themselves set an example of greatness in word and deed, but also the circle of their associates forms a kind of academy of good and refined morals.
12. Nature and art, material and creation.
Even beauty must be helped: even beauty will appear as ugliness if it is not decorated with art, which removes flaws and polishes virtues. Nature leaves us to the mercy of fate - let's resort to art! Without it, even an excellent nature will remain imperfect. He who has no culture has half the merits. A person who has not gone through a good school always smacks of rudeness; he needs to polish himself, striving for perfection in everything.
13. Act based on intent, sometimes second, sometimes first.
Human life is a struggle against the machinations of man. Cunning fights using stratagems of intent: it never does what it announces; aims to confuse; to divert attention, it skillfully threatens and suddenly, where they are not expected, it strikes, constantly trying to make you faint. He shows one intention in order to test the opponent’s thoughts, and then, turning sharply, attacks by surprise and wins. A discerning mind, however, foresees her machinations, watches her on the sly, sees the opposite of what is assured, and instantly recognizes the deceptive move; Having waited out the attack of the first intent, it waits for the second and even the third. Noticing that it has been figured out, malice redoubles its efforts, using the very truth to deceive. A different game, different techniques - now cunning dresses up in the clothes of ingenuity, cunning puts on a mask of sincerity. Observation then comes to the rescue; having guessed the far-sighted goal, she reveals darkness under the guise of light, exposes the intent, which, the simpler it seems, the more hidden it is. Thus, the insidious clouds of Python fight with the luminous rays of Apollo [2].
14. Essence and manner.
The crux of the matter is half the battle; no less important is how the job is done. Rudeness harms everything, even the just and reasonable; kindness brightens everything up: it gilds the “no,” it sweetens the truth, it even browns old age. In all matters, the “how” is important: friendliness, like a sharpie, is a sure thing. Bel portarse [3] decorates life, successfully playing the role of friendship.
ABOUT
Communicate with those from whom you can learn. May your communication with friends be a school of knowledge, and your conversation an exquisitely pleasant learning experience: look upon your friends as mentors and season the benefits of learning with the pleasure of conversation. Some friends are good at a distance, others at close range; those who are not very suitable for conversation can be excellent at correspondence. Distance smooths out flaws that are unbearable in close communication. From the marriage of fantasy with desire, something greater than life allows is born. There are very few people who would be able to do good; Almost everyone knows how to do evil.
Gracian y Morales Baltazar short biography (1601 - 1658)
Baltasar Gracian quotes. Baltasar Gracian quotes. Spanish writer and moral philosopher. Born in Belmont (Aragon), he studied at the Jesuit school in Calatayud and in 1619 joined the Jesuit order. He received his theological education in Zaragoza, where he later taught; took monastic vows in 1635. In 1651, without the permission of the order, he published the first part of his didactic novel “Critikon” and was subjected to church punishment, from which he was freed only by death in 1658. Treatises “Hero”, “Prudent”, “Politician” ", "Wit, or the Art of the Refined Mind" set out aristocratic ideals of government and moral education. The book “The Everyday Oracle, or The Art of Being Prudent” consists of 300 rules of worldly wisdom. Gracian y Morales coined the term "taste".
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Understanding life and understanding people are not the same thing. Great wisdom is to comprehend characters and capture moods. Before you start a joke, you need to know the limit of patience of the person you want to make fun of. In the face of everyday bad weather, it is best to fold your hands and wait until the storm subsides; If you retreat now, you will win later. The stream will become muddy even from the breeze, and the water will become clear not because of your efforts, but when you move away from it. There is no better remedy for troubles than to let them take their course - everything will somehow work out.
Biography
Born in Spain in the village of Belmonte near Calatayud in the family of a doctor. He had three brothers and a sister. The future writer was destined for a spiritual career from childhood, which was so common in Spain at that time.
In 1619, in Tarragona, he became a novice of the Jesuit order.
In 1623 he studied theology in Zaragoza. At the age of 30, he taught a course in “moral theology” in Lleida, Catalonia, and at the age of 32, he began teaching a course in philosophy at the Jesuit College of Gandia (Valencia).
The beginning of Gracian's literary work dates back to 1636, when he moved to Huesca, one of the cultural centers of Aragon, where he received the position of preacher and confessor of the local Jesuit college. A year later, his first significant work, the moral treatise “Hero”, was published, which was met with interest in Spain and Europe.
Cover of the first edition of The Criticon (
El Criticón
) (1651).
Since in those days there was a prohibition for members of the Jesuit order to publish anything without the prior approval of their superiors, Gracian published his work under the name of his cousin Lorenzo Gracian.
In 1657, after the publication of Part III of the Criticon, the rector of the Zaragoza college publicly reprimanded Balthasar, he was deprived of his chair, forbidden to teach, expelled from Zaragoza, and sentenced to strict repentance - on water and bread. The last year of Gracian's life was filled with humiliation, misfortune and despair.
“Tendency towards melancholy, bilious character, always irritated, dissatisfied with everyone, a caustic critic” - a review from contemporaries (from the obligatory denunciations of each other in the Jesuit order).
In Russia, Gracian was published in the period 1742-1792 - then there was a 200-year break. Thanks to Arthur Schopenhauer, there have already been 14 reprints in Germany since 1861.
