30 - Occupations - The Art of Worldly Wisdom - Baltasar Gracian

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In every occupation. If you know little, stick to the safest.
If you are not respected as subtle, you will be
regarded as sure. On the other hand, a man well
trained can plunge in and act as he pleases, to
know little and yet seek danger. Is nothing else than
to seek ruin. In such a case, take stand on

(00:22):
the right hand, for what is done cannot be undone.
Let little knowledge keep to the King's highway. And in
every case, knowing or unknowing, security is shrewder than singularity
two hundred seventy two. Sell things by the tariff of courtesy,

(00:42):
you oblige people most that way, the bid of an
interested buyer will never equal the return gift of an
honorable recipient of a favor. Courtesy does not really make presents,
but really lays men under obligation, and generosity is the
great obligation To a right minded man. Nothing costs more

(01:03):
dear than what is given him. You sell it him twice,
and for two prices, one for the value, one for
the politeness. At the same time, it is true that
with vulgar souls, generosity is gibberish, for they do not
understand the language of good breeding. Two hundred and seventy three.

(01:24):
Comprehend their dispositions with whom you deal, so as to
know their intentions, cause, known effect, known beforehand in the disposition,
and after in the motive. The melancholy man always foresees misfortunes,
the backbiter scandals, having no conception of the good evil

(01:45):
offers itself to them. A man moved by passion always
speaks of things differently from what they are. It is
his passion speaks, not his reason. Thus each speaks as
his feeling or his humor prompts him, and all far
from the truth. Learn how to decipher faces and spell
out the soul in the features. If a man laughs,

(02:07):
always set him down as foolish, if never as false.
Beware of the gossip he is either a babbler or
a spy. Expect little good from the misshapen. They generally
take revenge on nature and do little honor to her,
as she has done little to them. Beauty and folly

(02:27):
generally go hand in hand two hundred seventy four. Be attractive.
It is the magic of subtle courtesy. Use the magnet
of your pleasant qualities more to obtain good will than
good deeds, But apply it to all merit is not
enough unless supported by grace, which is the sole thing

(02:50):
that gives general acceptance and the most practical means of
rule over others. To be in vogue as a matter
of luck, Yet it can be encouraged by skill, for
art can best take root on a soil favored by nature.
There good will grows and develops into universal favor. Two
hundred seventy five. Join in the game, as far as

(03:13):
decency permits, do not always pose and be a bore.
This is a maxim for gallant bearing. You may yield
a touch of dignity to gain the general good will.
You may now and then go where most go, Yet
not beyond the bounds of decorum. He who makes a
fool of himself in public will not be regarded as discreet.

(03:36):
In private life. One may lose more on a day
of pleasure than has been gained during a whole life
of labor. Still you must not always keep away. To
be singular is to condemn all others. Still less act
the prude, leave that to its appropriate sex. Even religious

(03:56):
prudery is ridiculous. Nothing so becomes a man as to
be a man. A woman may affect a manly bearing
as an excellence, but not vice versa. Two hundred and
seventy six. Know how to renew your character with the
help both of nature and of art. Every seven years

(04:19):
the disposition changes, they say, Let it be a change
for the better and for the nobler in your taste.
After the first seven comes reason with each succeeding luster,
let a new excellence be added. Observe this change so
as to aid it, and hope also for betterment in others.
Hence it arises that many change their behavior when they

(04:41):
change their position or their occupation. At times, the change
is not noticed till it reaches the height of maturity.
At twenty man is at peacock at thirty, a lion
at forty, a camel at fifty, a serpent at sixty,
a dog at ad seventy and eight at eighty, nothing

(05:03):
at all two hundred and seventy seven. Display yourself tis
the illumination of talents. For each there comes an appropriate moment.
Use it, for not every day comes a triumph. There
are some dashing men who make much show with a little.
A whole exhibition with much fability to display them is

(05:27):
joined to versatile gifts. They are regarded as miraculous. There
are whole nations given to display. The Spanish people take
the highest rank. In this light, was the first thing
to cause creation to shine forth. Display fills up much,
supplies much, and gives a second existence to things, especially

(05:47):
when combined with real excellence. Heaven that grants perfection provides
also the means of display, for one without the other
were abortive. Skill is, however, needed for display. Even excellence
depends on circumstances and is not always opportune. Ostentation is
out of place when it is out of time. More

(06:09):
than any other quality, it should be free of any affectation.
This is its rock of offense, for it then borders
on vanity, and so on contempt. It must be moderate
to avoid being vulgar, and any excess is despised by
the wise. At times it consists in a sort of
mute eloquence, a careless display of excellence. For a wise,

(06:32):
concealment is often the most effective boast, since the very
withdrawal from view piques curiosity to the highest. Tis a
fine subtlety, too, not to display one's excellence all at
one time, but to grant stolen glances at it more
and more as time goes on. Each exploit should be

(06:53):
the pledge of a grater, and applause at the first
should only die away in expectation of its sequell two
hundred seventy eight. Avoid notoriety in all things. Even excellences
become defects if they become notorious. Notoriety arises from singularity,

(07:15):
which is always blamed. He that is singular is left
severely alone. Even beauty is decredited by coxcombri which offends
by the very notice it attracts. Still more, does this
apply to discreditable singularities. Yet among the wicked there are
some that seek to be known for seeking novelties in vice,

(07:37):
so as to attain to the fame of infamy. Even
in matters of the intellect, want of moderation may degenerate
into loquacity two hundred and seventy nine. Do not contradict
the contradictor You have to distinguish whether the contradiction comes
from cunning or from vulgarity. It is not always obstinacy,

(08:00):
but may be artfulness. Notice this, for in the first
case one may get into difficulties, in the other into danger.
Caution is never more needed than against spies. There is
no such counter check to the picklock of the mind
as to leave the key of caution in the lock

(08:21):
two hundred and eighty be trustworthy. Honorable dealing is at
an end. Trusts are denied. Few keep their word. The
greater the service, the poorer the reward. That is the
way with all the world. Nowadays. There are whole nations
inclined to false dealing with some Treachery has always to

(08:45):
be feared with others, breach of promise with others deceit.
Yet this bad behavior of others should rather be a
warning to us than an example. The fear is that
the sight of such unworthy behavior should over ride our integrity.
But a man of honor should never forget what he
is because he sees what others are. End of Section

(09:10):
thirty