Latest / Logic Library / 06 - Select The Lucky and Avoid the Unlucky - The Art of Worldly Wisdom - Baltasar Gracian
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- Select the lucky and avoid the unlucky. Ill luck is generally the penalty of folly, and there is no disease so contagious to those who share in it. Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. The greatest skill at Carrot's is to know when to discard it. The smallest of current trumps 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. Thirty two have the reputation of being gracious. Tis the chief glory of the high and mighty. To be gracious a prerogative of kings to conquer universal good will. 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 lay themselves out for not being gracious, not on account of the difficulty, but from a bad disposition in all things. They are the opposite of divine grace. Thirty three 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 one's self. As regards both affairs and persons, there are extraneous occupations which 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 man not to interfere with others. He must see that they do not interfere with him. One is not obliged to belong so much to all as not to belong at all to one's self. So with friends, their help should not be abused or more demanded from them than they themselves will grant. All. Access is a failing, But above all, in personal intercourse, a wise moderation in this best preserves the good will and esteem of all, For by this means that precious boon of courtesy is not gradually worn away. Thus you preserve your genius, free to select the elect, and never sin against the unwritten laws of good taste. Thirty four. Know your strongest point, your pre eminent gift. Cultivate that, and you will assist the rest. Every One 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 judgment excels in others valor most to violence to their natural aptitude, and thus attains superiority in nothing. Time disillusionizes us too late of what first flattered to passions. Thirty five. Think over things, most of the most important. All fools come to grief from want of thought. They never see even the half of 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 imports little, and little of much, always weighing in the wrong scale. Many never lose their common sense, because they have none to lose. There are matters which should be observed with the closest attention of the mind, and thenceforth kept in its lowest depths. The wise man thinks over everything, but with the difference most profoundly where there is some profound difficulty, and thinks that perhaps there is more in it than he thinks. Thus his comprehension extends as far as his apprehension. Thirty six. In acting or refraining, weigh your luck more depends on that than on noticing your temperament. If he is a fool who at forty applies to Hippocrates for health. Still more is he one who then applies to Seneca for wisdom. It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it. For something is to be done with it by waiting, so as to use it at a proper moment, Since it has periods and offers opportunities, though one cannot calculate its path, its steps are so 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, keep retired, so as not to redouble the influence of your unlucky star. Thirty seven. 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 man's mood, 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 which 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, which could not be the slightest shaken by a whole conspiracy of popular insinuation or private malevolence. Other sarcasms, on the other hand, who work favorably confirming and assisting one's reputation. But the greater the skill with which they are launched, the greater decaution with which they should be received, and the foresight with which they should be foreseen. For here a knowledge of the evil is in itself a means of defense, and the shot foreseen always misses its mark. Thirty eight. Leave your luck while winning. All the best players do it. A fine rich wheat 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 long lasting, was ever suspicious. Interrupted 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. Thirty nine. Recognize when things are ripe, and then enjoy them. The works of nature all reach a certain point of maturity up to death. They improve. After that they degenerate. Few works of art reach such a point that they cannot be improved. It is an especial privilege of good taste to enjoy everything at its ripest. Not all can do this, nor do all who can notice there is a ripening point too. For fruits of intellect. It is well to know this, both for their value in use and for their value in exchange. Forty The good will of people tis much to gain universal admiration more universal love. Something depends on natural disposition, more on practice. The first founds the second, then builds on that foundation. Brilliant parts suffice not, though they are presupposed, win good opinion, and is easy to win good will. Kindly acts, besides, are required to produce kindly feelings. Doing good with both hands, good words, and better deeds, Loving so as to be loved. Courtesy is the politic witchery of great personages. First they hand on deeds, and then on pens. Words follow swords. For there is good will to be won among writers, and it is eternal end of section six,