The Art of Worldly Wisdom Flashcards
- It takes more to make one sage
Than it did to make seven in ancient times;
- Character and intelligence
One without the other brings only half of your success; and
- Keep Matters in
Suspense:
3.1: successes that are
Novel win admiration
3.2 By not declaring yourself immediately,
You will keep people guessing, especially if your position is important enough to awaken expectations.
3.3 Even when revealing yourself,
Avoid total frankness. Mystery by its arcaneness causes veneration
3.4 Once declared, resolutions
Are never esteemed, and lie open to criticism.
- Knowledge and courage take turns at greatness.
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
4.1 You are as much as
You know, and if you are wise you can do anything.
- Make people
Depend on you.
5.1: He who is truly shrewd would rather
Have people need him than thank him.
5.2 Vulgar gratitude is worth less than
Polite hope, for hope remembers and gratitude forgets.
5.3 You will get more from dependence
Than from courtesy.
He who has already drunk turns his back on the well. A squeezed orange has no more juice.
5.4 When there is no longer dependence,
Manners disappear, and so does esteem.
Children thinking they don’t need you anymore act out
5.5 Experience teaches us to
Maintain dependence, and entertain it without satisfying it.
5.6 But don’t take dependence
Too far, such as leading other astray by your silence, or making their ills incurable for your own good (as many hacks do)
- Reach Perfection
No one is born that way, so perfect yourself daily.
6.1 Signs of the perfect person:
Elevated taste, pure intelligence, a clear will, and ripeness of judgement
6.3 Some people are never…and others…
Never complete, and others take a long time to form themselves.
6.2 Be…in speech and…in deeds.
Wise, prudent
- Don’t outshine
Your boss.
7.1 Being defeated is hateful,
And besting one’s boss is either foolish or fatal.
7.2 Superiority is always
Odious, especially to superiors and sovereigns.
7.3 Advantages can be…as beauty…
Advantages can be cautiously hidden, as beauty is hidden with a touch of artful neglect.
7.4 Most people do not mind being surpassed in…but no one
Surpassed in good fortune, character or temperament, but no one likes to be surpassed in intelligence. (Except when someone is so far beyond you you can’t help but admire, like a Tesla etc)
7.4 …is the king of attributes, and
Intelligence; and any crime against it is lèse-majesté
7.5 Princes like to be helped
But not surpassed
*7.6 When you counsel someone,
You should appear to be reminding them of something forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see.
7.7 Learn from the stars
The stars are brilliant, but they never outshine the sun.
Imagine if the stars tried to light up the day? You know how pissed the sun would be? -talking about Son
- Don’t be swayed by passions
No mastery is greater than mastering yourself and your own passions
- Avoid the defects of your
Country: by correcting these faults, you will be revered as unique among your people
9.1 What is least expected
Is most valued
- Fame and Fortune
Fame requires constant work
10.1 Fame always goes
To extremes: monsters or heros, abomination or applause, fools or prodigies
- Associate with those
You can learn from.
11.1 Make your friends
Your teachers, and blend the usefulness of conversation with the pleasure of conversation
11.2 What draws us to others, ordinarily,
Is our own interest, and by associating with others you can learn from, you ennoble this tendency
- Nature and Art, material and labor
All beauty requires help, perfection turns into barbarism unless ennobled by artifice
12.1 People seem rough and rude
Without artifice; perfection requires polish
- Act on the intentions
Of others: their ulterior and superior motives
13.1 Cunning arms itself…it never…
With strategies of intention. It never does what it indicates.
13.2 To win the attention and confidence of others
Cunning hints at its intention, but immediately turns against it and conquers through surprise (comedy itself).
13.3 The penetrating intelligence heads off cunning
With close observation, only ambushes it with caution, understands the opposite of what the cunning wanted it to understand, and identifies false intentions.
13.4 A simulation grows even greater
When it sees its guile has been penetrated by intelligence, and tries to deceive by telling the truth.
13.5 Simulation changes strategies when perceived
By trying to beguile us with an apparent lack of guile (a person so clever they do this to themselves, and only have vague awarenesses of it u til they awaken)
13.6 Cunning makes itself appear genuine
When it bases itself on the greatest candor.
Cunning of Python vs intelligence of Apollo
13.7 …deciphers intention, which is…
Observation deciphers intention by seeing through it, as intention is most hidden when it’s simple
- Reality and Manner
The wrong manner turns everything sour, even justice and reason
14.1 The right manner
Makes up for everything, turning a no into gold, truth into sweetness, and makes even old age look pretty.
14.2 The how of things
Captures the affection of others, such as a pleasant manner in ugly events
