The Wisdom of Gracian III Flashcards
Know how to refuse
Not everything has to be granted, nor to everyone.
Your manner is important here: one person’s’ no’ is valued more than another’s ’yes’.
Always let there be a few crumbs of hope to temper the bitterness of refusal.
Know how to be evasive
With the charm of a witty phrase you can normally extricate yourself from the most intricate labyrinth.
You can avoid the most difficult confrontation with a smile.
A polite tactic in refusing is to change the subject and there’s no greater act of caution than to conceal that you have understood.
Know how to be all things to all people
A discreet Proteus: with the learned, learned, with the devout, devout.
Similarity creates goodwill.
Observe each person’s temperament and tune yours to it. Go with the current, undergoing a transformation that is politic - and essential for those in positions of dependency.
From Proteus comes the adjective protean, meaning “versatile”, “mutable”, or “capable of assuming many forms”. “Protean” has positive connotations of flexibility, versatility and adaptability.
Take care when gathering information
Hearing is Truth’s last entry point, and a lie’s first.
Truth is normally seen and rarely heard. It rarely reaches us unadulterated, especially when it comes from far off.
It always tries to make an impression, so consider carefully a person offering praise, and even more so someone uttering abuse.
Let caution weigh up what’s missing and what’s false.
Dazzle anew
This is the privilege of the phoenix.
Valour, ingenuity, fortune, indeed everything, should be reborn.
Dare to dazzle anew, rising repeatedly like the sun, shining in different fields, so that your absence in one area, awakens desire and your novel appearance in another, applause.
Know how to use your enemies
You must know how to take hold of everything- not by the blade, which wounds, but by the hilt, which defends.
This applies especially to envy.
Enemies are of more use to the wise man than friends are to the fool.
Ill will usually levels mountains of difficulty, which goodwill would balk at tackling.
The greatness of many has been fashioned thanks to malicious enemies.
Flattery is more harmful than hatred, for the latter is a more effective remedy, for the flaws that the former conceals.
Sensible people fashion a mirror from spite, more truthful than that of affection, and reduce or correct their defects, for great caution is needed when living on the frontier of envy and Ill will.
Forstall malicious gossip
It’s very easy to gain a bad reputation, for badness is easy to believe and hard to erase.
The sensible man should avoid such things and carefully forestall the insolence of the mob, for prevention is easier than cure.
There are flaws secretly exposed by private envy to public malice, for there are malevolent tongues that destroy a great reputation more quickly with a joke than with open effrontery.
So how to forestall it? - Spy, intercept it at source, destroy the perpetrator’s reputation before they destroy yours, via rumour, innuendo and if necessary, lies.
Let your manner be lofty
Endeavour to make it sublime
Never go into minute details, especially with unpleasant things.
You should normally act with a noble generality, which is a form of gallantry.
Pass over most things that occur among your family, your friends and particularly your enemies.
Triviality is annoying, and in a person’s character, tedious.
Your conduct should not be petty.
Understand yourself
Your temperament, intellect, opinions and emotions.
You can’t be master of yourself if you don’t first understand yourself.
Let discreet, self-reflection be your mind’s mirror image of who you actually are and how you could perhaps correct and improve it
Fathom your depths and weigh up your capacity and strength to succeed in achieving the enterprises you attempt.
Unfathomable abilities.
The circumspect man if he wants to be venerated by everyone, should prevent the true depths of his knowledge or his courage being plumbed.
He should allow himself to be known, but never clearly understood.
He should never allow anyone, to grasp everything about him.
On Moral Sense
It is the throne of reason,the foundation of prudence, and with it, success is easy.
It consists of an innate propensity for all that most conforms to reason, and is always wedded to what’s most right.
Conceal your wishes
Whoever plays their hand openly, runs the risk of losing.
Don’t let your desires be known, so that they will not be anticipated, either by opposition or flattery.
