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Title details for The Art of Wordly Wisdom (World Digital Library Edition) by Baltasar Gracian - Available

The Art of Wordly Wisdom (World Digital Library Edition)

by Baltasar Gracian
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These 300 aphorisms are culled from the writings of the 16th century thinker and religious philosopher Baltasar Gracian. They originated in his Oraculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia (published by Gracian's friend and editor Don Vincencio Jaun de Lastanosa), and represent the spirit of Gracian's style that influenced a period of Spanish literature. Translated many times through the centuries, in several languages, the aphorisms are observations for every aspect of life, love, friendship, and business. Some samples of first lines:

  • "Do not saddle yourself with fools: he is one who does not know them, and a greater, he who knowing them, does not shake them off.''
  • "Know how to forget, even though it's more luck than art."
  • "Neither be all, nor give all to anyone."
  • "Leave something to be desired."
  • "Know how to refresh the spirit, through nature and through art."
  • "Keep in mind the happy ending."


In the afterword, the translator, Martin Fisher, remarks on how Gracian's writings have held up over the centuries: "The estimates of Gracian as man or philosopher or writer run from the extremes of praise or to the extremes of condemnation...he praises the golden mean and that perhaps best characterizes him."

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subjects

Languages

  • English

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