The Art of Worldly Wisdom

A centuries-old rediscovered masterpiece of 300 adages on how to live successfully yet responsibly in a society governed by self-interest, as astonishingly appropriate today as it was in seventeenth-century Spain “The Art of Worldly Wisdom is a book of strategies for knowing, judging, and acting: for making one’s way in the world and achieving distinction and perfection. . . . Like all aphorisms, these are meant to be read slowly, a few at a time.”—from the Introduction “Use human means as though divine ones did not exist, and use divine means as though there were no human ones.” The Art of Worldly Wisdom was written over three hundred years ago by Baltasar Gracián, one of Spain’s greatest writers—a worldly Jesuit scholar and keen observer of many in positions of power. His work draws on careful study of statesmen and potentates who managed to combine ethical behavior with worldly effectiveness. Each of the elegantly crafted maxims in this volume offers valuable insight on the art of living and the practice of achieving. These secular moral reflections on reality and appearances, self-love and friendship, wit and ignorance are sharply pragmatic, but still leave room for spirituality, tempered by prudence and discretion. Full of timeless wisdom as acute as Machiavelli yet as humanistic and scrupulously moral as Marcus Aurelius, The Art of Worldly Wisdom is an inspirational classic and an invaluable guide to navigating the complexities of life.