The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Hardcover)

by Baltasar Gracian (Author), Christopher Maurer (Translator) "All has reached perfection, and becoming a true person is the greatest perfection of all..." (more)
Key Phrases: Great Captain

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Maurer retranslates a 17th-century Jesuit's aphorisms and reflections on the morality of success. This long-admired work sounds surprisingly relevant today. It also combines brevity and grace of expression with wise advice, which should appeal to those seeking "how-to" spirituality which is universal, practical, and applicable in business. Recommended for public libraries.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
"Use human means as though divine ones did not exist, and use divine means as though there were no human ones." So wrote the Jesuit scholar Baltazar Gracian some 300 years ago, in a book that will be compared to Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Machiavelli's The Prince. A new translation of long lost wisdom on living successfully yet responsibly.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Broadway Business; 1 edition (December 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385421311
• ISBN-13: 978-0385421317
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,236 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine book for rare people, September 19, 2002

By	M. DUTRA (Sao Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Gracian had a splendid understanding of human nature. This book is just phenomenal, and it is not intended to be read and left on the shelf, it must be digested little by little, like the Book of Proverbs.
His insights have been copied and rewritten all the time, because they are universal in nature. It is interesting to notice that even though Gracian gives counsel on how to deal with people and even enemies, the BIG difference we see in him when compared with other authors like Machiavelli (whom Gracian detested) is his love for virtues like courage, generosity and kindness.
Gracian writes in order to make people become better human beings, not to give advice on how to win a war or have success in business, with a finesse that unfortunately is not found easily any more in our brute and materialistic world of today.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, April 29, 2005

By	Rodney Ohebsion (CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Art of Wordly Wisdom is a book to read and reread. Author Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658) offers 300 short paragraphs of insights, reflections, and advice that would best be described as practical, no-holds-barred, unique, and sometimes audacious.

Gracian has a penetrating mind and a great grasp of human nature. He addresses a variety of topics on wordly wisdom, concisely imparting a great deal of information in little space.

There are about a dozen different translations of The Art of Wordly Wisdom, but the most widely available are by:
Joseph Jacobs (1892)
Martin Fischer (1934)
Christopher Maurer (1991)

All three are great, but I personally recommend reading both the Jacobs and Maurer translations.

Here are some passages from The Art of Worldy Widdom:
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142. Don't defend the wrong side out of stubbornness, just because your opponent happened to get there first and choose the best. You will go into battle already defeated, and go down in disgrace. Bad is no match for good. It was cunning of your opponent to anticipate the best, and it would be stupid of you to defend the worst. Those obstinate in deeds are in greater danger than those obstinate in words, for there is greater risk in doing than in saying. The vulgar ignorance of stubborn people makes them prefer contradiction to truth and conention to utility. Prudent people are on the side of reason, not passion, whether because they forewaw it from the first, or because they improved their position later. If your opponent is a fool, his follishness will make him change course, switch sides, and worsen his position. To expel him from the best, embrace it yourself. His foolishness will make him abandon it and his own obstinancy will cast him down. (Maurer translation)

181. The truth, but not the whole truth. Nothing demands more caution than the truth--it is the lancet of the heart. It requires as much to tell the truth as to conceal it. A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity. The deceit is regarded as treason and the deceiver as a traitor, which is worse. Yet not all truths can be spoken, some for our own sake, others for the sake of others. (Jacobs translation)


167. Be self-reliant. There is no better company, in tight situations, than a stout heart. When it is weak, use the organs closest of it. Worries are borne better by the self-reliant. Don't give in to fortune, or it will make itself even more unbearable. Some people help themselves little in their own travails, and double them by not knowing how to bear them. The person who knows himself overcomes his weakness with thoughtfulness, and the prudent manage to conquer all, even the stars. (Maurer translation)

242. Push advantages. Some put all their strength in the commencement and never carry a thing to conclusion. They invent but never execute. These be ambiguous spirits-they obtain no fame for they sustain no game to the end. Everything ends at the first stop. In some that arises from impatience, which is the failing of the Spaniards, as patience is the virtue of the Belgians. The latter bring things to an end, the former come to an end with things. They sweat away until the obstacle is overcome, but then they are content-they do not know how to push the victory home. They prove that they can but will not. This shows that they are either incapable or unreliable. If the undertaking is good, why not finish it? It is bad, why undertake it? Strike down your quarry, if you are wise-do not be content merely to flush it out. (Jacobs translation)
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If you like this book also be sure to read Guicciardini's Ricordi (Maxims and Reflections).

Also be sure to get my book The New Art of War, Tactics, and Power.

Rodney Ohebsion

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GUIDE TO HUMAN NATURE, LIFE, Reactions And Interactions, February 25, 2002

By A Customer

I received this book as a gift in 1992, I had no idea what I had been given..The Art Of Wordly Wisdom, is "THE" guide to Human Nature, a Handbook on Life, It is a brilliant how it describes human nature/behavior in all scopes of life's pursuits and how to handle any situation, not based on incident but based on human reaction and interaction to the incident...The writings are ageless, the book should be in everyone's library and read often..It is not a one read book, but one you can take out when dealing with whatever life may throw at you...I have used it and I have never found anything better on human nature and it always find a way of getting you out of the worst and even the best of situations. It is not religious, not new age teachings,not cult, it is common sense,you could say psychology by examples of life and people....
Nietzche and Shopenhauer were fans of Gracian, but none ever reached his clarity and accessibility..THE translation by Christopher Maurer is the ONLY ONE worth reading, for he is as clear as Gracian...Don't bother with the rest...
Baltasar Gracian is a man still ahead of his time...