Dark Lessons For a Brilliant Life
He was called the Spanish Nietzche, although he was born two hundred years before him.
He was the favorite author of Arthur Schopenhauer, who became a translator of his books.
Robert Greene and his book The 48 Laws of Power drink continuously from his wisdom.
His name, Baltasar Gracian.
Gracian’s wisdom was practical, zero naive, and oriented to improve the lives of those who read his books.
Today, I want to share 3 of his most disturbing lessons so that you can take them into account and improve your life.
1. You have to be book-smart and street-smart.
“Advice and strength. Eyes and hands; without courage, wisdom is barren.” — Baltasar Gracian.
Baltasar insisted in his essays that theory is useless if you don’t put it into practice.
According to the famous monk, “Knowledge and courage altern greatness.”
It is not the most intelligent person who wins the game of life.
It is not the bravest who triumphs in the world.
It is the one who alternates thought and action at the right moment.
It is necessary to combine cunning with decision. For this, Gracian proposes to amalgamate action and reason. — Remember that there are lessons that only the street can teach us, no matter how many books we read.
The famous Jesuit monk used to say, “Hurry slowly.” But hurry. Do not stand still, for he who does not set out on the road is soon overtaken by his enemies.
2. Make them depend on you.
“The shrewd want more the needy than grateful.” — Baltasar Gracian.
According to Balthasar, people who need you do not forget. However, the one who got something from you and no longer requires you quickly forgets his debt. And many times, he doesn’t even thank you.
In a paragraph of his handbook, Art of Prudence, the monk goes so far as to say, “More is gained from dependence than from courtesy: he who is satisfied turns his back to the fountain, and the squeezed orange falls from the gold into the mud.”
Words written in the 17th century that, updated by me to the 21st century, would read, “Don’t become a Kleenex. Or people will blow their snot with you and throw you away”.
Balthasar Gracián knew what he was talking about; he was a contemporary of Miguel de Cervantes, Garcilaso de la Vega, Galileo Galilei, Quevedo, Luis de Góngora, and Calderon de la Barca, among others.
And in that golden age of Spain, Baltasar was a confessor and advisor to the most influential men of his time.
3. Let your superior take the credit.
“The princes like to be helped but not exceeded.” — Balthasar Gracian.
This lesson inspired Robert Green so much that he placed it in his famous book “The 48 Laws of Power” as law number 1: “Do not overshadow your superiors.”
As Robert suggests in the book, “If we make our bosses look brighter than they are, we will reach the heights of power.” — Because obviously, they will want us around.
Or as Baltasar Gracian would say centuries before, “Look to the stars, which, though bright, never dare to shine brighter than the sun.” — If you do, your boss will see you as a potential threat and get you out of his way.
Baltasar Gracian is a clear example of what he preached.
He was one of the most influential men not only of his time but also of history. His thought influenced La Rochefoucauld and later the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.
And therefore, the whole world.
Nevertheless, he did not seek fame. But to transmit his knowledge.
For this reason, he wrote most of his life signing as if he were someone else: his brother Lorenzo Gracian or with the anagram García de Morlanes.
The important thing was to get his books published, avoiding the ever-watchful eye of his superiors in the famous Jesuit order “La compañia de Jesus.”
So, if you want some advice, work in the shadow of your superiors. Make yourself indispensable. And never make them feel you are a threat. And your time to shine will come if you are patient and you know how to wait 😉
A virtual hug
AG