Balthasar Gracian's The Art of Worldly Wisdom

[NOTE: Emboldening, italicisation, underlining and parenthetical comments are by T. O' Donnell, and are not part of the original text.]

 
Maxims

Paragraphs

1. Everything is at its peak of perfection.

This is especially true of the art of making one's way in the world. There is more required nowadays to make a single wise person than formerly to make the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, and more is needed nowadays to make a single person than was required with a whole people in former times.

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2. Character and intellect.

These are the two poles of our capacity; one without the other is but halfway to happiness. Intellect is not enough, character is also needed. On the other hand, it is the fool's misfortune to fail in obtaining the position, employment, neighborhood, and circle of friends of his choice.

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3. Keep matters for a time in suspense.

(Don't give the whole game away.  People marvel at a magician only as long as they don't know how he does his tricks.)

Admiration at their novelty heightens the value of your achievements. It is both useless and insipid to play with your cards on the table. If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse expectation, especially when the importance of your position makes you the object of general attention. Mix a little with everything, and the very mystery arouses veneration. And when you explain, do not be too explicit, just as you do not expose your inmost thoughts in ordinary conversation. Cautious silence is the sacred sanctuary of worldly wisdom. A resolution declared is never highly thought of - it only leaves room for criticism. And if it happens to fail, you are doubly unfortunate. Besides, you imitate the divine way when you inspire people to wonder and watch.

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4. Knowledge and courage.

These are the elements of greatness. Because they are immortal they bestow immortality. Each is as much as he knows, and the wise can do anything. A person without knowledge is in a world without light. Wisdom and strength are the eyes and hands. Knowledge without courage is sterile.

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5. Make people depend on you.

(People dislike those they are indebted to, but dance attendance on those they need something from).

It is not he that adorns but he that adores that makes a divinity. The wise person would rather see others needing him than thanking him. To keep them on the threshold of hope is diplomatic, to trust to their gratitude is boorish; hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one. More is to be got from dependence than from courtesy. He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well, and the orange once squeezed fall from the golden platter into the waste basket. When dependence disappears good behavior goes with it, as well as respect. Let it be one of the chief lessons of experience to keep hope alive without entirely satisfying it, by preserving it to make oneself always needed, even by a patron on the throne. But do not carry silence to excess or you will go wrong, nor let another's failing grow incurable for the sake of your own advantage.

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6. A person at his peak.

We are not born perfect. Every day we develop in our personality and in our profession until we reach the highest point of our completed being, to the full round of our accomplishments and of our excellences. This is known by the purity of our taste, the clearness of our thought, the maturity of our judgement, and the firmness of our will. Some never arrive at being complete - something is always lacking. Others ripen late. The complete person - wise in speech, prudent in act - is admitted to the familiar intimacy of discreet people and is even sought out by them.

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7. Avoid outshining your superiors.

(Most important.  No one likes a smart-ass!  Your chief-executive wants a knowledgable and diligent servant, not a competitor. Read this carefully).

All victories breed hate, and that over your superior is foolish or fatal. Preeminence is always detested, especially over those who are in high positions. Caution can gloss over common advantages. For example, good looks may be cloaked by careless attire. There are some that will grant you superiority in good luck or in good temper, but none in good sense, least of all a prince - for good sense is a royal prerogative and any claim of superiority in that is a crime against majesty. They are princes, and wish to be so in that most princely of qualities. They will allow someone to help them but not to surpass them. So make any advice given to them appear like a recollection of something they have only forgotten rather than as a guide to something they cannot find. The stars teach us this finesse with happy tact: though they are his children and brilliant like him, they never rival the brilliance of the sun.

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8. Be without passions.

This is the highest quality of the mind. Its very eminence redeems us from being affected by transient and low impulses. There is no higher rule than that over oneself, over one's impulses; there is the triumph of free will. When passion rules your character do not let it threaten your position, especially if it is a high one. It is the only refined way of avoiding trouble and the shortest way back to a good reputation.

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9. Avoid the faults of your nation.

Water shares the good or bad qualities of the channels through which it flows and people share those of the climate in which they are born. Some owe more than others to their native land, because there is a more favorable sky in the zenith. There is not a nation among even the most civilized that has not some fault peculiar to itself that other nations blame by way of boast or as a warning. It is a triumph of cleverness to correct in oneself such failings, or even to hide them. You get great credit for being unique among your fellows because what is less expected is esteemed all the more. There are also family failings as well as faults of position, of office, or of age. If these all meet in one person and are not carefully guarded against, they make an intolerable monster.

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10. Fortune and Fame.

Where the one is fickle the other is enduring. The first is for this life, this second for the next; fortune against envy, fame against oblivion. Fortune is desired and sometimes nurtured, but fame is earned. The desire for fame springs from virtue. Fame was and is the sister of the giants; it always goes to extremes - either horrible monsters or brilliant prodigies.

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11. Cultivate relationships with those who can teach you.

(If you must be sociable, keep company with the wise).

Let friendly intercourse be a school of knowledge, and let culture be taught through conversation. Thus you make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversation with the advantages of instruction. Sensible people enjoy alternating pleasures: you are rewarded with applause for what you say and you gain instruction from what you hear. We are always attracted to others by our own interest, but in this case it is of a higher kind. Wise people frequent the houses of great nobility as theatres of heroism not temples of vanity. They are renowned for their worldly wisdom, not only for being oracles of all nobleness by their example and their behavior, but because those who surround them form a courtly academy of worldly wisdom of the best and noblest kind.

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12. Nature and art, material and workmanship.

There is no beauty unadorned and no excellence that would not become barbaric if it were not supported by artifice. This remedies the bad and improves the good. Nature scarcely ever give us the very best - for that we must have recourse to art. Without this the best of natural dispositions remains uncultured, lacking half its excellence if training is absent. Everyone has something unrefined that needs training, and every kind of excellence needs some polish.

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13. Act sometimes on second thoughts, sometimes on first impulse.

Life is a warfare against the malice of others. Sagacity fights with strategic changes of intention - never doing what it threatens, aiming only to escape notice. It aims in the air with dexterity and strikes home in an unexpected direction, always seeking to conceal its game. It lets a purpose appear in order to attract the opponent's attention, but then turns round and conquers by the unexpected. But a penetrating intelligence anticipates this by watchfulness and lurks in ambush. It always understands the opposite of what the opponent wishes it to understand, and recognizes every feint of guile. It lets the first impulse pass by and waits for the second, or even the third. Sagacity now rises to higher flights on seeing its artifice foreseen: It tries to deceive by truth itself, changing its game in order to change its deceit, cheats by not cheating, and bases its deception on the greatest candor. But the opposing intelligence is on guard with increased watchfulness and discovers the darkness concealed by the light and deciphers every move, the more subtle because more simple. In this way the guile of the Python combats the far darting rays of Apollo.

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14. The thing itself and the way it is done.

Substance is not enough, attention to circumstance is also required. A bad manner spoils everything - even reason and justice - a good one supplies everything, gilds, even sweetens truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself. The how plays a large part in affairs, a good manner steals people's hearts. Fine behavior is a joy in life, and a pleasant expression can help you out of a difficult situation in a remarkable way.

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15. Keep auxiliary wits around you.

It is a privilege of the powerful to surround themselves with the champions of intellect who protect them from the dangers of every ignorance, who untangle them from the snarls of every difficulty. It is a rare greatness to know how to make use of the wise; it far exceeds the barbarous taste of Tigranes, who delighted in enslaving kings as his servants. It is a novel kind of supremacy - the best that life can offer - to use skill to make as servants of those who by nature are our masters. It is a great thing to know, little to live; there is no real life without knowledge. There is remarkable cleverness in studying without effort, in getting much by means of many, and through them all to become wise. Afterwards, you speak in the council of chambers on behalf of many, and since as many sages speak through your mouth as were consulted beforehand you thus obtain the fame of an oracle by others' efforts. Such auxiliary wits distil the best books and serve up the quintessence of wisdom. He that cannot have sages for service should have them as his friends.

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16. Knowledge and good intentions.

Together they ensure continued success. A fine intellect wedded to a wicked will is always an unnatural monster. A wicked will poisons all perfections; helped by knowledge it only ruins with greater subtlety. It is a miserable superiority that only results in ruin. Knowledge without sense is doubly folly.

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17. Vary your mode of action.

So as to distract attention, do not always do things the same way, especially if you have a rival.  Do not always act on first impulse; people will soon recognize the uniformity and, by anticipating, frustrate your designs. It is easy to kill a bird on the wing that flies straight, not so one that twists and turns. Nor should you always act on second thoughts; people will discern the plan the second time. The enemy is on the watch, great skill is required to outwit him. The gamester never plays the card the opponent expects, still less the one he wants.

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18. Application and ability.

There is no attaining eminence without both, and where they unite there is the greatest fame.Mediocre people obtain more with application than superior people without it. Work is the price that is paid for reputation. What costs little is of little worth. Even for the highest posts it is only in some cases application that is wanting, rarely the talent. To prefer moderate success in great things over eminence in a humble post may be excused by a generous mind, but there is no excuse for being content with humble mediocrity when you could shine among the highest. Thus nature and art are both needed, and application makes them complete.

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19. Arouse no exaggerated expectations when you start something.

(Even if you do well,  you cannot perform up to people's expectations.   So don't arouse them beforehand).

It is the misfortune of all celebrated people not to fulfill afterwards the expectations beforehand formed of them. The real can never equal the imagined, for it is easy to form ideals but very difficult to realize them.Imagination weds hope and gives birth to much more than things are in themselves. However excellent something is, it never suffices to fulfill expectations. And as people find themselves disappointed with their exorbitant expectations they are more readily disillusioned than impressed. Hope is a great falsifier of truth; let skill guard against this by ensuring that fruition exceeds desire. A few creditable attempts at the beginning are sufficient to arouse curiosity without pledging one to the final object. It is better that reality should surpass the design and it turns out better than was thought. This rule does not apply to wicked things, for the same exaggeration is a great aid with them and draws general applause; what seemed at first extreme ruin comes to be thought of as quite bearable.

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20. A man of the times.

The rarest individuals depend on their times. It is not everyone that finds the times he deserves, and even when he finds it he does not always know how to utilize it. Some people have been worthy of a better century, for every species of good does not always triumph. Things have their period - even excellent qualities are subject to fashion.  Wisdom has one advantage: she is immortal. If this is not her century many others will be.

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21. The art of being lucky.

There are rules of luck and the wise do not leave it all to chance. Luck can be assisted by care. Some content themselves with placing themselves confidently at the gate of fortune, waiting till she opens it. Others do better, and press forward and profit by their clever boldness, reaching the goddess and winning her favor on the wings of their virtue and valor. But a true philosophy has no other umpire than virtue and insight - for there is no good or bad luck except wisdom and foolishness.

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22. Knowledge has a purpose.

Wise people arm themselves with tasteful and elegant erudition - a practical and expert knowledge of what is going on, not common gossip. They possess a copious store of wise and witty sayings, and of noble deeds, and know how to employ them at the right moment.Often, more is taught by a jest than by the most serious teaching. Knowledge gained in conversation can be of more help than the seven arts, however liberal.

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23. Be free of imperfections.

(People will pick on a single small defect, which will detract and draw attention from your excellent qualities.  So cure it or get rid of it, or make an ornament of it  i.e. draw attention to it rather than hiding it. If you hide it you are more likely to be found out the higher you rise).

Few live without some weak point, either physical or moral, which they pamper even though they could easily cure it. The keenness of others often regrets to see a slight defect attaching itself to a whole assembly of elevated qualities, and yet a single cloud can hide the whole of the sun. There are likewise blemishes on our reputation, which those with ill will soon discover and continually point out. The highest skill is to transform them into ornament. So Caesar hid his natural defect (baldness) with the laurel.

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24. Keep your imagination under control.

You must sometimes correct it, sometimes assist it. For it is all important for out happiness and balances reason. The imagination can tyrannize, not being content with looking on, but influences and even often dominates our life. It can make us happy or burden us, depending on the folly that it leads us to. It can make us either content or discontent with ourselves. Before some people it continually holds up the penalties of action and becomes the mortifying lash of fools. To others the imagination promises happiness and adventure with blissful delusion. It can do all this unless you lord over it with the most prudent self-control.

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25. Know how to take a hint.

(Pay attention to things half-said by others. The truth is often not, or cannot be, plainly spoken).

It was once the art of arts to be able to discourse, now it is no longer sufficient. We must know how to take a hint, especially in disabusing ourselves. You cannot make yourself understood if you do not easily understand others. There are some who act like diviners of the heart and lynxes of intentions. The very truths that concern us most are only half spoken, but with attention we can grasp the whole meaning. When you hear anything favorable keep a tight rein on your credulity; if unfavourable, give it the spur.

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26. Find out each person's thumbscrew.

This is the art of setting their wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where to get at any one.  Every volition has a special motive that varies according to taste. All people idolize something; for some it is fame, for others self-interest, for most it is pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play.Know a person's mainspring of motive and you have as it were the key to his will. Have resort to primary motives, which are not always the highest but more often the lowest part of his nature because there are more dispositions badly organized than well. First guess a person's ruling passion, appeal to it with words, set it in motion by temptation, and you will always checkmate his freedom of will.

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27. Prize intensity more than extent.

Excellence resides in quality not in quantity. The best is always few and rare - abundance lowers value.  Even among men, the giants are usually really dwarfs. Some reckon books by the thickness, as if they were written to exercise the brawn more than the brain. Extent alone never rises above mediocrity; it is the misfortune of universal geniuses that in attempting to be at home everywhere are so nowhere. Intensity give eminence and rises to the heroic in matters sublime.

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28. Be common in nothing.

Especially not in taste. It is great and wise to be ill at ease when your deeds please the mob!  The excesses of popular applause never satisfy the sensible. There are chameleons of popularity who find enjoyment not in the sweet savors of Apollo but in the breath of the mob. Secondly, do not be common in intelligence; take no pleasure in the wonder of the mob, for ignorance never gets beyond wonder. While vulgar folly wonders, wisdom watches for the deception.

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29. Be a person of integrity.

Cling to righteousness with such tenacity of purpose that neither the passions of the mob nor the violence of the tyrant can ever cause you to transgress the bounds of right. But who can be such a phoenix of equity? What a scanty following rectitude has! Many praise it indeed, but few devote themselves. Others follow it until danger threatens; then the false deny it and the political conceal it. For righteousness cares not if it conflicts with friendship, power, or even self-interest; then comes the danger of desertion. Astute people make plausible distinctions so as not to stand in the way of their superiors or of reason of state. But straightforward and constant people regard deception as a kind of treason and set more store in tenacity than on sagacity. Such people are always to be found on the side of truth, and if they desert a group they do not change due to fickleness but because the others have first deserted truth.

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30. Have nothing to do with disreputable occupations.

And have still less to do with fads that bring more notoriety than good reputation. There are many fanciful sects, and the prudent person flees from them all. There are people with bizarre tastes that always take to heart everything that wise people repudiate. They live in love with eccentricity, and this may make them well known indeed but more as an object of ridicule than of good reputation. A cautious person does not make public his pursuit of wisdom, still less those matters that make him or his followers seem ridiculous. These need not be specified - common contempt has sufficiently singled them out.

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31. Select the lucky and avoid the unlucky.

Bad luck is generally the penalty of folly and for the unfortunate there is no disease so contagious. Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones will invariably slink in after it. The greatest skill at cards is to know when to discard; the smallest of current tramps is worth more than the ace of trumps of the last game. When in doubt, follow the suit of the wise and the prudent - sooner or later they will win the odd trick.

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32. Have a reputation for being gracious.

It is the chief glory of the high and the mighty to be gracious, a prerogative of kings to conquer with universal goodwill. That is the great advantage of a commanding position - to be able to do more good than others. Those make friends who do friendly acts. On the other hand, there are some who fix themselves on not being gracious, not on account of difficulty but due to a bad disposition. In all things they are the opposite of divine grace.

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33. Know how to withdraw.

If it is a great lesson in life to know how to deny, it is still greater to know how to deny oneself as regards both affairs and persons. There are extraneous occupations that eat away precious time. To be occupied in what does not concern you is worse than doing nothing.  It is not enough for a careful person not to interfere with others, he must see that they do not interfere with him. One is not obliged to belong so much to others as not to belong at all to oneself. So with friends, their help should not be abused or more demanded from them than they themselves will grant.   All excess is a failing, but above all in personal relationships. A wise moderation in this best preserves the goodwill and esteem for all, for by this means that precious boon of courtesy is not gradually worn away. Thus you preserve your genius and freedom to select the best and never sin against the unwritten laws of good taste.

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34. Know your strongest quality.

Know your pre-eminent gift - cultivate it and it will assist the rest. Everyone would have excelled in something if he had known his strong point. Notice in what quality you surpass and take charge of that. In some people judgement excels, in others valor. Most do violence to their natural aptitude and thus attain superiority in nothing. Time enlightens us too late of what was first only a flattering of the passions.

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35. Think things over, especially those that are important.

All fools come to grief from lack of thought. They never see even half the things and, as they do not observe their own loss or gain, still less do they apply any diligence to them. Some make much of what matters little and little of much, always weighing on the wrong scale. Many never lose their common sense, because they have none to lose. There are matters that should be observed with the closest attention, and thereafter always kept well in mind. The wise person thinks over everything, but with a difference, most profoundly where there is more in it than he first thought. Thus his comprehension extends as far as his apprehension.

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36. Before acting or refraining weigh your luck.

More depends on that than on noticing your temperament. If he is a fool who at forty applies first to Hippocrates for health, still more is he one who only first applies to Seneca for wisdom. It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck while waiting for it.  For something is accomplished by just waiting to use it at the proper moment, since it has periods and offers opportunities - though one cannot calculate its path because its steps are irregular. When you find fortune favorable, stride boldly forward, for she favors the bold and, being a woman, the young. But if you have bad luck, withdraw so as not to redouble the influence of your unlucky star.

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37. Keep a store of sarcasms and know how to use them.

This is the point of greatest tact in human intercourse. Such sarcasms are often thrown out to test people's moods, and by their means one often obtains the most subtle and penetrating touchstone of the heart. Other sarcasms are malicious, insolent, poisoned by envy or envenomed by passion, unexpected flashes that destroy at once all favor and esteem.  Struck by the slightest word of this kind, many fall away from the closest intimacy with superiors or inferiors that would not have been the slightest shaken by a whole conspiracy of popular insinuation or private malevolence. Other sarcasms work favorably, confirming and assisting one's reputation. But the greater the skill with which they are launched, the greater the caution with which they should be anticipated and received. For here a knowledge of malice is in itself a means of defense, and a shot foreseen always misses its mark.

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38. Leave your luck while still winning.

All the best players do it. A fine retreat is as good as a gallant attack. Bring your exploits under cover when there are enough, or even when there are many of them. Luck too long lasting is always suspicious; alternating luck seems safer, and is even sweeter to the taste for a little infusion of bitter sweet. The higher the heap of luck, the greater the risk of a slip, and down comes all. Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying anyone long on her shoulders.

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39. Recognize when things are ripe, and know how to enjoy them.

The works of nature all reach a certain point of maturity - up to then they improve, then they degenerate. Few works of art reach such a point that they cannot be improved. It is a special privilege of good taste to enjoy everything at its ripest. Not everyone can do this, nor do all who can know how. There is a ripening point too for fruits of intellect, but it is important to know how to recognize it in order to both value it and use it.

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40. Gain people's goodwill.

It is a great thing to gain universal admiration, but greater to gain universal affection. It depends on natural disposition but more so on practice; the first is the foundation, the second then builds on that. Great gifts are not enough, though they are thought to be essential - win good opinion and it is easy to win goodwill. Kindly acts are required to produce kindly feelings - do good with both hands, good words and better deeds, love so as to be loved. Courtesy is the politic magic of great people. First, lay the hand on deeds and then on the pen - words follow swords and the goodwill to be won among writers is eternal.

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41. Never exaggerate.

(By exaggeration you cause heightened expectations, and if they are not lived up to both you and the thing praised fall in people's estimation).

It is an important object of attention not to talk in superlatives, so as neither to offend truth nor cast doubt on your understanding. Exaggeration wastes distinctions and shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or taste. Praise arises lively curiosity, begets desire and if afterwards the value does not correspond to the price - as generally happens - expectation revolts against the deception and revenges itself by cheapening both the thing praised and the praiser. A prudent person goes more cautiously to works and prefers to err by understatement than by overstatement. Extraordinary things are rare, therefore temper your evaluation. Exaggeration is akin to lying, and you jeopardize your reputation for good taste and - much worse - good sense.

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42. Natural leadership.

It is a secret force of superiority not to have to get by artful trickery but by an inborn power of rule. All submit to it without knowing why, recognizing the secret vigor of natural authority. Such magisterial spirits are kings by merit and lions by innate privilege. By the esteem that they inspire, they hold the hearts and minds of those around them. If their other qualities permit, such people are born to be the prime movers of the state. They perform more by a gesture than others by a long harangue.

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43. Think with the few and speak with the many.

(Even if you are sure you're right, hold your tongue in public. People dislike being contradicted, and if an opinion you say a popular opinion is incorrect, you will make many enemies).

Swimming against the stream makes it impossible to remove error and easy to fall into danger - only a Socrates can undertake it. To dissent from others' views is regarded as an insult, because it is a condemnation of their judgement.  The offense is doubled on account of the judgement condemned and of the person who championed it. Truth is for the few, error is both common and vulgar. The wise person is not known by what he says on the public square, for there he speaks not with his own voice but with that of common folly, however much his inmost thoughts may deny it. The prudent person avoids being contradicted as much as he avoids contradicting others - though they have their judgement ready they are not ready to publish it. Thought is free, force cannot and should not be used on it. The wise person therefore retires into silence and if he allows himself to come out of it, he does so in the shade and before few and fit persons.

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44. Sympathy with great minds.

It is a heroic quality to agree with heroes. It is like a miracle of nature both because of its mystery and for its usefulness. There is a natural kinship of hearts and minds; its effects are such that vulgar ignorance attributes it to magic potions. Esteem and goodwill follow and at times reach affection. It persuades without words and obtains without earning. This sympathy is sometimes active, sometimes passive; both bring great happiness - the more so, the more sublime. It is a great art to recognize, to distinguish, and to utilize this gift. No amount of energy suffices without that favor of nature.

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45. Use, but do not abuse, cunning.

(Be cunning, but be cautious with it, but don't draw attention to your caution, as caution arouses distrust in others).

One ought not to delight in it, still less boast of it. Everything artificial should be concealed, most of all cunning, which is hated. Deceit is common, so our caution has to be redoubled, but not so as to show itself, for caution arouses distrust, causes annoyance, awakens revenge, and gives rise to more ills than you would imagine. To go to work with caution is of great advantage in action, and there is no greater proof of wisdom. The greatest skill in any deed consists in the sure mastery with which it is executed.

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46. Master your antipathies.

We often allow ourselves to form dislikes of people, even before we know anything about them. At times this innate yet vulgar aversion attaches itself to eminent people. Good sense masters this feeling, for there is nothing better than ourselves. As sympathy with great people ennobles us, so dislike of them degrades us.

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47. Avoid incurring obligations.

This is one of the chief aims of prudence. People of great ability keep extremes far apart, so that there is a long distance between them. They always keep in the middle of their caution, so they take time to act. It is easier to avoid committing yourself to something than it is to come out of it well. Such affairs test our judgement - it is better to avoid them than to conquer in them. One obligation leads to another and may lead to an affair of dishonor. There are people so constituted by nature or by nation that they easily enter upon such obligations. But for those who walk by the light of reason, such matters require long thinking over. There is more valor needed not to take up the affair than in conquering in it. When there is one fool ready for the occasion, one may excuse oneself from being the second.

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48. So much depends on being a person of depth.

The interior must be at least as impressive as the exterior. Some people's character is all façade, like houses that, due to lack of means, have the portico of a palace leading to the rooms of a cottage. It is no use boring into such people - although they will bore you - because conversation flags after the first salutation. They prance through the first compliments like Sicilian stallions, but silence quickly follows, for the flow of words soon ceases where there is no spring of thoughts. Others may be taken in by them because they themselves have superficial views, but not the prudent, who look within them and find nothing there except material for scorn.

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49. Be a person of observation and judgement.

Such a person rules things, not they him. He quickly plumbs the most profound depths. He knows how to get at the anatomy of character. On seeing a person he understands him and judges his inmost nature. From a few observations he deciphers what is most hidden. Keen observation, subtle insight, judicious inference - with these he discovers, notices grasps, and comprehends everything.

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50. Never lose your self-respect.

And do not be too self-conscious. Let your own integrity be the true standard of your rectitude, and let your own self-judgement be more strict than all external laws. Avoid anything unseemly more from regard for your own self-respect than from fear of external authority. Pay regard to that and there is no need of Seneca's imaginary monitor.

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51. Know how to choose well.

Most of life depends on this. You need good taste and correct judgement, for which neither intellect nor study suffices. To be choice, you must choose well, and for this two things are needed: to be able to choose at all, and then to choose the best. There are many people with fertile and subtle minds, of keen judgement, of much learning, and of great observation who still are at a loss when they come to choosing. They always take the worst as if they were determined to go wrong. Thus, knowing how to choose well is one of the greatest gifts.

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52. Never be upset.

It is a great aim of prudence never to be embarrassed. This is the sign of a real person, of a noble heart, for magnanimity is not easily put off balance. The passions are the humors of the soul, and every excess in them weakens prudence. If they overflow through the mouth, the reputation will be in danger. Let us therefore be so great a master over ourselves that neither in the most fortunate nor in the most adverse circumstances can anything cause our reputation injury by disturbing our self-possession but rather enhance it by showing superiority.

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53. Be diligent and intelligent.

(Fools hurry, the wise procrastinate; THINK first, but then act promptly.)

Diligence promptly executes what intelligence carefully thought through. Haste is the failing of fools - they know not the obstacles and set to work without preparation. On the other hand, the wise more often fail from procrastination - foresight begets deliberation, and delay often nullifies prompt judgement. Promptness is the mother of good fortune. He has done much who leaves nothing until tomorrow. "Make haste slowly" is a magnificent motto.

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54. Know how to show your strength.

Even hares can pull the mane of a dead lion. Courage is no joking matter. Give way to the first and you must yield to the second, and so on till the last, and to gain your point in the end costs as much trouble as it would have a first. Moral courage exceeds physical courage; it should be like a sword kept ready for use in the scabbard of caution. It is your shield. Moral cowardice degrades one more than physical weakness. Many have had eminent qualities yet, for want of a stout heart, they passed inanimate lives and found a tomb in their own sloth. Wise nature has thoughtfully combined in the bee the sweetness of its honey with the sharpness of its sting.

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55. Know how to wait.

It is a sign of a noble heart to be endowed with patience, never to be in a hurry, never to be given over to passion. First be master over yourself if you would be master over others. You must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity. A wise reserve seasons the aims and matures the means. Time's crutch effects more than the iron club of Hercules. God himself chastens not with a rod but with time. "Time and I against any two," is a great saying. Fortune rewards the first prize to those who wait.

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56. Have presence of mind.

This is the child of a happy readiness of spirit. Owing to this vivacity and alertness there is no fear of danger of accident. Many reflect much only to go wrong in the end and others attain their aim without thinking about it beforehand. There are paradoxical characters who work best in an emergency. They are like monsters who succeed in all they do offhand, but fail in everything they think over. Something occurs to them at once or never - for them there is no court of appeal. Promptness wins applause because it proves remarkable capacity: subtlety of judgement, prudence in action.

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57. Be slow and sure.

Things are done quickly enough if done well.   If just quickly done they can be quickly undone.To last an eternity requires an eternity of preparation.Only excellence counts, only achievement endures. Profound intelligence is the only foundation for immortality. What is worth much costs much. The precious metals are the heaviest.

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58. Adapt yourself to those around you.

(Keep a trick or two up your sleeve always. Do not show all, to all, all at once).

There is no need to show your ability before everyone. Employ no more force than is necessary. Let there be no unnecessary expenditure either of knowledge or of power. The skillful falconer only flies enough birds to serve for the chase. If there is too much display today there will be nothing to show tomorrow. Always have some novelty with which to dazzle.To show something fresh each day keeps expectations alive and conceals the limits of capacity.

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59. Finish off well.

In the house of fortune if you enter by the gate of pleasure you must leave by that of sorrow, and vice versa. You ought therefore to think of the finish, and attach more importance to a happy exit than to applause on entrance. It is the common lot of the unlucky to have a very fortunate beginning and a very tragic end. The important point is not the vulgar applause on entrance - that comes to nearly all - but the general feeling at exit. Few in life are felt to deserve an encore. Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door, and as warmly as she may welcome the coming, she is cold to the parting guest.

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60. Have sound judgement.

Some are born wise and with this natural advantage enter upon their studies with half their journey to success already mastered. With age and experience their reason ripens, and thus they attain a sound judgement.They abhor everything whimsical as leading prudence astray, especially in matters of state, where certainty is so necessary, owing to the importance of the affairs involved. Such people deserve to stand at the helm of government either as navigators or as helmsmen.

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61. Excel in what is excellent.

It is a great rarity among excellences. You cannot have a great person without something preeminent. Mediocrity never wins applause. Eminence is some distinguished post distinguishes one from the vulgar mob and ranks us with the exceptional. To be distinguished in a small post is to be great in little - the more comfort the less glory. To be excellent at great things is a royal characteristic - it excites admiration and wins goodwill.

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62. Use good instruments.

Some would have the subtlety of their wits proven by the poorness of their instruments. This is a dangerous satisfaction and deserves a fatal punishment. The excellence of a minister never diminished the greatness of his lord. All the glory of exploits reverts to the principal actor, also all the blame. Fame only does business with principals. She does not say. "This had good, that had bad servants," but, "This was a good artist, that a bad one." Therefore, let your assistants be selected and tested, for you have to trust them an immortality of fame.

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63. To be the first of the kind is excellent.

And to be eminent in it as well is twice as good. To have the first move is a great advantage when the players are equal. Many a person would have been as unique as a phoenix if he had been the first of the sort. Those who come first are the heirs of fame. The others get only a younger brother's allowance; whatever they do, they cannot persuade the world they are anything more than parrots. Extraordinary people find a new path to eminence, and prudence accompanies them all the way. Because of the novelty of their enterprises, sages write their names in the golden books of heroes. Some prefer to be first in things of minor importance than second in greater exploits.

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64. Avoid worry.

Such prudence brings its own reward. It escapes much, and is thus the midwife of comfort and so of happiness. Neither give nor take bad news unless it can help. Some people's ears are stuffed with the sweets of flattery, others with the bitters of scandal, while some cannot live without a daily annoyance no more than Mithridates (Mithridates VI, 132-63 BCE, King of Pontus, is said to have taken small doses of poison to immunize himself from it in an event that it might be used in an assassination attempt) without poison. It is no rule of life to prepare for yourself lifelong trouble in order to give a temporary enjoyment to another, however near and dear. You should never spoil your own chances in order to please another who advises but keeps out of the affair.

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65. Cultivate taste.

You can train it like the intellect. Full knowledge whets desire and increases enjoyment. You may know a noble spirit by the elevation of his taste. Only a great thing can satisfy a great mind. Big bites for big mouths, lofty things for lofty spirits. Before their judgement the bravest tremble, the most perfect lose confidence. Few things are of the first importance, so let appreciation be rare. Taste can be imparted by personal intercourse; it is great good luck to associate with the highest taste.But do not profess to be dissatisfied with everything; this is the extreme of folly, and more odious if from affectation than if from unreachable ideals. Some would have God create another world and other ideals to satisfy their fantastic imagination.

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66. See to it that things end well.

Some regard more the rigor of the game than the winning of it, but to the world the discredit of the final failure does away with any recognition of previous diligence. The victor need not explain. The world does not notice the details of the measures employed, but only the good or bad result. You lose nothing if you gain your end. A good end gilds everything, however unsatisfactory the means.Thus at times it is part of the art of life to transgress the rules of the art, if you cannot end well otherwise.

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67. Choose an occupation that wins distinction.

Most things depend on the satisfaction of others. Esteem is to excellence what the west wind is to flowers: the breath of life. There are some occupations that gain universal esteem, while others more important are without credit. The former, pursued before the eyes of all, obtain the universal favor; the others, though they are rarer and more valuable, remain obscure and unperceived, honored but not applauded. Among princes, conquerors are the most celebrated, and therefore the kings of Aragon earned such applause as warriors, conquerors, and great people. An able person will prefer occupations of distinction, which all know of and utilize - he thus becomes immortalized by universal suffrage.

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68. It is better to help with intelligence than with memory.

The latter needs only recollection, the former requires thought. Many people fail to do what is appropriate to the moment because it does not occur to them. A friend's advice on such occasions may enable them to see the advantages. It is one of the greatest gifts of mind to be able to offer what is needed at the right moment; for want of that many things fail to be performed. Share the light of your intelligence, when you have any, and ask for it when you have it not - the first cautiously, the last anxiously.Give no more than a hint.The finesse is especially necessary when it touches the interests of him whose attention you awaken. You should give but a taste at first, and then pass on more when that is not sufficient. If he thinks of no, go cleverly in search of yes. Most things are not simply because they are not attempted.

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69. Do not give way to every common impulse.

He is great who never allows himself to be influenced by the impressions of others. Self-reflection is the school of wisdom; to know one's current disposition and to allow for it, even going to the other extreme so as to find a balance between nature and art. Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement. There are some whose humors are so monstrous that they are always under the influence of one or other of them in place of their real inclinations. They are torn asunder by such disharmony and get involved in contradictory obligations. Such excesses not only destroy firmness of will, all power of judgement gets lost and desire and knowledge pull in opposite directions.

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70. Know how to say "no".

One ought not to give way in everything nor to everybody. To know how to refuse is therefore as important as to know how to consent. This is especially the case with people of power. Everything depends on how you do it. Some people's no is thought more of than the
yes of others; for a gilded no is more satisfactory than a dry yes. There are some who always have no on their lips, whereby they make everything distasteful. No always comes first with them, and when sometimes they give way after all, it does them no good on account of the unpleasant beginning. Your refusal need not be point-blank; let the disappointment come by degrees. Nor let the refusal be final - that would destroy dependence, so let some spice of hope remain to soften the rejection. Let politeness compensate and fine words supply the place of deeds. Yes and no are soon said, but give much to think over.

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71. Do not vacillate.

Do not let your actions be abnormal either from disposition or affectation. A wise person is always consistent in his best qualities, and because of this he gets the credit of trustworthiness. If he changes, he does so for good reason and after good consideration. In matters of conduct change is hateful. There are some who are different every day - their intelligence varies, still more their will, and with this their fortune. Yesterday's white is today's black; today's no was yesterday's yes. They always give the lie to their own credit and destroy their credit with others.

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72. Be resolute.

Bad execution of your designs does less harm than irresolution in forming them. Streams do less harm flowing than when dammed up. There are some people so infirm of purpose that they always require direction from others, and this not on account of any perplexity, for they judge clearly, but for their sheer incapacity for action. It takes some skill to find out difficulties but more to find a way out of them. There are others who never get bogged down; their clear judgement and determined character fit them for the highest callings, their intelligence tells them where to insert the thin end of the wedge, their resolution how to drive it home. They soon get through anything, and when they have done with one sphere of action, they are ready for another. Wedded to fortune, they make themselves sure of success.

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73. Know how to use evasion.

That is how smart people get out of difficulties. They extricate themselves from the most intricate labyrinth by some witty application of a bright remark. They get out of a serious contention by an airy nothing or by raising a smile. Most of the great leaders are well grounded in this art. When you have to refuse something, often the most courteous way is to just change the subject. And sometimes it proves the highest understanding to act like you do not understand.

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74. Do not be unapproachable.

(Be approachable, especially if you hold public office.  Good manners cost nothing, and can earn much.  We are sociable creatures. Do not be so pompous once you've 'made it' as to become a bad-tempered recluse; it does you no credit in other people's eyes).

The most wild beasts live in the most populous places. To be inaccessible is the fault of those who distrust themselves, whose honors change their manners.It is no way to earn people's goodwill by being ill-tempered with them. What a sight it is to see one of those unsociable monsters who make a point of being proudly impertinent. Their servants, who have the misfortune to be obliged to speak with them, enter as if prepared for a fight with a tiger: armed with patience and with fear. To obtain their high position these unapproachable people must have ingratiated themselves with everyone, but having arrived there they seek to compensate themselves by irritating all.It is a condition of their position that they should be accessible to all, yet from pride or spite they are so to none. A civil way to punish such people is to let them alone, depriving them of the chance of improvement by granting them no opportunity for intercourse.

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75. Chose a heroic ideal.

Emulate rather than imitate. There are exemplars of greatness, living texts of honor. Let everyone have before his mind the best in his profession, not so much to follow him as to spur himself on. Alexander wept not on account of Achilles being dead and buried, but over himself because his fame had not yet spread throughout the world. Nothing arouses ambition so much in the heart as the trumpet call of another's fame. The same thing that sharpens envy nourishes a generous spirit.

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76. Do not always be joking.

Wisdom is shown in serious matters, and is more appreciated than mere wit. He that is always ready for jests is never ready for serious things. Jokers resemble liars in that people never believe either, always expecting a lie in one, a joke in the other. One never knows when you speak with judgement, which is the same as if you had none. A continual jest soon loses all zest. Many get their reputation for being witty but thereby lose the credit for being sensible. Jest has its little hour, seriousness should have all the rest.

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77. Be all things to all people.

Be a discreet Proteus, learned with the learned, saintly with the sainted. It is the great are to gain everyone's support; general agreement gains goodwill. Notice people's moods and adapt yourself to each, genial or serious as the case may be. Follow their lead, glossing over the changes as cunningly as possible. This is an especially indispensable art for people who are dependant on others. But this skill in the art of living calls for great cleverness. He only will find no difficulty who has a universal genius in his knowledge and universal ingenuity in his wit.

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78. The art of undertaking things.

Fools rush in through the door - for folly is always bold. The same simplicity that robs them of all attention to caution deprives them of all sense of shame at failure. But prudence enters with more deliberation. Its forerunners are caution and care; they advance and discover whether you can also advance without danger. Every rush forward might have been freed from danger by caution, but fortune sometimes helps in such cases. Go cautiously where you suspect depth. Sagacity goes cautiously forward while discretion covers the ground. Nowadays there are unsuspected depths in human intercourse, you must therefore plumb the waters as you go.

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79. A jovial disposition.

With moderation it is an accomplishment, not a defect. A grain of gaiety seasons all. The greatest people join in the fun at times and it makes them liked by all. But they should always on such occasions preserve their dignity nor go beyond the bounds of decorum. Others, again, use a joke to get themselves out of a difficulty quickly. For there are things you must take in fun, though others perhaps mean them in earnest. This shows a sense of calm, which acts as a magnet on all hearts.

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80. Take care when you get information.

We live by information, not by sight. We exist by faith in others. The ear is the sidedoor of truth but the frontdoor of lies. The truth is generally seen, rarely heard. She seldom comes in elemental purity, especially from afar - there is always some admixture of the moods of those through whom she has passed. The passions tinge her, sometimes favorably, sometimes odiously. She always brings out people's disposition,therefore receive her with caution from him that praises, with more caution from him that blames. Pay attention to the intention of the speaker; you should know beforehand on what footing he comes. Let reflection test for falsity and exaggeration.

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81. Renew your brilliance.

This is the privilege of the phoenix. Ability grows old, and with it fame. The staleness of custom weakens admiration, and a mediocrity that is new often eclipses the highest excellence grown old. Try therefore to be born again in valor, in genius, in fortune, in everything. Display startling novelty - rise afresh like the sun every day. Change too the scene of your shine, so that your loss may be felt in the old scenes of your triumph, while the novelty of your powers wins you applause in the new.

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82. Drain nothing to the dregs, neither good nor bad.

A sage once reduced all virtue to the golden mean. Push right to the extreme and it becomes wrong; press all the juice from an orange and it becomes bitter. Even in enjoyment never go to extremes. Thought too subtle is dull. If you milk a cow too much you draw blood, not milk.

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83. Allow yourself some forgivable sin.

(Display some forgivable failing to deflect the envy of others).

Some such carelessness is often the greatest recommendation of talent. For envy causes ostracism, most envenomed when most polite. Envy counts every perfection as a failing and that it has no faults itself. Being perfect in all envy condemns perfection in all. It becomes an Argus (mythological, hundred-eyed giant), all eyes for imperfection, if only for its own consolation. Blame is like the lightning - it hits the highest. Let Homer nod now and then and affect some negligence in valor or in intellect - not in prudence - so as to disarm malevolence, or at least to prevent its bursting with its own venom. You thus leave your cape on the horns of envy (like a matador) in order to save your immortality.

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84. Make use of your enemies.

You should learn to seize things not by the blade, which cuts, but by the handle, which saves you from harm - especially with the doings of your enemies. A wise person gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. Their ill will often levels mountains of difficulties that one would otherwise not face. Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies. Flattery is more dangerous than hatred, because it covers the stains that the other causes to be wiped out. The wise will turn ill will into a mirror more faithful than that of kindness, and remove or improve the faults referred to. Caution thrives well when rivalry and ill will are next-door neighbors.

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85. Do not be a wild card, a jack-of-all-trades.

It is a fault of excellence that being so much in use it is liable to abuse. Because all covet it, all are vexed by it. It is great misfortune to be of use to nobody - scarcely less to be of use to everybody. People who reach this stage lose by gaining, and in the end bore those who desired them before. These wild cards wear away all kinds of excellence. Losing the earlier esteem of the few, they obtain discredit among the vulgar. The remedy against this extreme is to moderate your brilliance. Be extraordinary in your excellence, if you like, but be ordinary in your display of it. The more light a torch gives, the more it burns away and the nearer it is to burning out. Show yourself less and you will be rewarded by being esteemed more.

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86. Prevent scandal.

Many heads go to make the mob, and in each of them there are eyes for malice to use and a tongue for detraction to wag. If a single ill report spreads, it casts a blemish on your fair fame, and if it clings to you with a nickname, your reputation is in danger. Generally it is some salient defect or ridiculous trait that gives rise to the rumors. At times these are malicious inflations of private envy to general distrust. For these are wicked tongues that ruin a great reputation more easily by a witty sneer than by a direct accusation. It is easy to get a bad reputation because it is easy to believe evil but hard to eradicate. The wise therefore avoid such incidents, guarding against vulgar scandal with constant vigilance. It is far easier to prevent than to rectify.

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87. Culture and elegance.

We are born barbarians and only raise ourselves above the beast by culture. Culture therefore makes the person; the greater a person the more culture. Thanks to this, Greece could call the rest of the world barbarians. Ignorance is very raw - nothing contributes so much to culture as knowledge. But even knowledge is coarse if without elegance. Not alone must our intelligence be elegant, but also our desires, and above all our conversation.Some people are naturally elegant in internal and external qualities, in their thoughts, in their words, in their dress, which is the rind of the soul as their talents are its fruit. There are others, on the other hand, so gauche that everything about them, even their most excellent quality, is tarnished by an intolerable and barbaric want of neatness.

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88. Let your behavior be fine and noble.

A great person ought not to be little in his actions. He ought never to pry too minutely into things, least of all in unpleasant matters. For though it is important to know all, it is not necessary to know all about all.One ought to act in such cases with the generosity of a gentleman, with conduct worthy of a gallant person. To pretend to overlook things is a large part of the work of ruling. Most things must be left unnoticed among relatives and friends, and even among enemies. All superfluity is annoying, especially in things that annoy. To keep hovering around the object of your annoyance is a kind of mania. Generally speaking, everybody behaves according to his heart and his understanding.

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89. Know yourself.

Know your talents and capacity, in judgement and inclination. You cannot master yourself unless you know yourself. There are mirrors for the face but none for the mind. Let careful thought about yourself serve as a substitute. When the outer image is forgotten, keep the inner one to improve and perfect. Learn the force of your intellect and capacity for affairs, test the force of your courage in order to apply it, and keep your foundations secure and your head clear for everything.

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90. The secret of long life.

Lead a good life. Two things bring life speedily to an end: folly and immorality. Some lose their life because they have not the intelligence to keep it, others because they have not the will. Just as virtue is its own reward, so is vice its own punishment. He who lives a fast life runs through life to its end doubly quick. A virtuous life never dies. The firmness of the soul is communicated to the body, and a good life is not only long but also full.

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91. Never set to work at anything if you have any doubts about its prudence.

A suspicion of failure in the mind of the doer is proof positive of it in that of the onlooker, especially if he is a rival.If in the heat of action your judgement wavers, it will afterwards in cool reflection be condemned as folly. Action is dangerous where prudence is in doubt - better leave such things alone. Wisdom does not trust to probabilities, it always marches in the midday light of reason. How can an enterprise succeed which the judgement condemns as soon as it was conceived? If resolutions passed unanimously by an inner court often turn out badly, what can we expect of those undertaken by a doubting reason and a vacillating judgement?

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92. Transcendent wisdom.

I mean in everything. An ounce of wisdom is worth more than a ton of cleverness is the first and highest rule of all deeds and words, the more necessary to be followed the higher and more numerous your post. It is the only sure way, though it may not gain so much applause. A reputation for wisdom is the last triumph of fame. It is enough if you satisfy the wise, for their judgement is the touchstone of true success.

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93. Versatility.

A man of many excellent qualities equals many men. By imparting his own enjoyment of life to his circle of friends and followers he enriches their life. Variety in excellences is the delight of life. It is a great art to profit by all that is good, and, since nature has made people in their most perfected form an abstract of herself, so let art create in them a true microcosm by training their taste and intellect.

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94. Keep the extent of your abilities unknown.

The wise person does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honored by all. He allows you to know him but not to comprehend him. No one must know the extent of a wise person's abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one should ever have an opportunity to fathom him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.

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95. Keep expectation alive.

Keep stirring it up. Let much promise more, and great deeds herald greater. Do not rest your whole fortune on a single cast of the dice. It requires great skill to moderate your forces so as to keep expectation from being dissipated.

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96. The highest discretion.

It is the throne of reason, the foundation of prudence - by its means success is gained at little cost. It is a gift from above, and should be prayed for as the first and best quality. It is the main piece of the suit of armor, and so important that its absence makes a person imperfect, whereas with other qualities it is merely a question needing more or less. All the actions of life depend in its application - all requires its assistance, for everything needs intelligence. Discretion consists in a natural tendency to the most rational course, combined with a liking for the surest.

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97. Obtain and preserve a reputation.

It is something only borrowed from fame. It is expensive to obtain a reputation, for it only attaches to distinguished abilities, which are as rare as mediocrities are common. Once obtained, it is easily preserved. It confers many an obligation, but it does more. When it is owing to elevated powers or lofty spheres of action, it rises to a kind of veneration and yields a sort of majesty. But it is only a well-founded reputation that lasts permanently.

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98. Write your intentions in cypher.

(Be secretive about your intentions and your affections, or others may find ways to manipulate you or defeat you).

The passions are the gates of the soul. The most practical knowledge consists in disguising them. He that plays with cards exposed runs a risk of losing the stakes. The reserve of caution should combat the curiosity of inquirers with the policy of the inky cuttlefish. Do not even let your tastes be known, lest others utilize them either by running counter to them or by flattering them.

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99. Reality and appearance.

Things pass for what they seem, not for what they are. Few see inside, many get attached to appearances. It is not enough to be right if your actions look false and ill.

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100. Be a person without illusions, one who is wise and righteous, a philosophical courtier.

Be all these, not merely seem to be them, still less affect to be them. Philosophy is nowadays discredited, but yet it was always the chief concern of the wise. The art of thinking has been degraded. Seneca introduced it at Rome, it found favor for a time among nobility, but now it is considered nonsense. And yet the discovery of deceit was always thought the true nourishment of a thoughtful mind, the true delight of a virtuous soul.

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101. One half of the world laughs at the other, and fools are they all.

Everything is good or everything is bad according to who you ask. What one pursues another persecutes. He is an insufferable ass who would regulate everything according to his ideas. Excellences do not depend on a single person's pleasure. So many people, so many tastes, all different. There is no defect that is not affected by some. We need not lose heart if something does not please someone, for others will appreciate it;  nor need their applause turn our head, for there will surely be others to condemn it.The real test of praise is the approval of renowned people and of experts in the field. You should aim to be independent of any one opinion, of any one fashion, of any one century.

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