Quotes from book
The Art of Worldly Wisdom

The Art of Worldly Wisdom
Baltasar Gracián Original title Oráculo manual y arte de prudencia (Spanish)

The Art of Worldly Wisdom is a book written in 1647 by Baltasar Gracián y Morales, better known as Baltasar Gracian. It is a collection of 300 maxims, each with a commentary, on various topics giving advice and guidance on how to live fully, advance socially, and be a better person, that became popular throughout Europe.


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“Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.”

Saberlos conservar es más que el hazerlos amigos.
Maxim 158 (p. 90)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Freedom is more precious than the gift that makes us lose it.”

Más preciosa es la libertad que la dádiva, porque se pierde.
Maxim 286
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“If you cannot make knowledge your servant, make it your friend.”

Pero el que no pudiere alcançar a tener la sabiduría en servidumbre, lógrela en familiaridad.
Maxim 15 (p. 9)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“The right kind of leisure is better than the wrong kind of work.”

Más vale el buen ocio que el negocio.
Maxim 247
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Many pleasant things are better when they belong to someone else. … When things belong to others, we enjoy them twice as much, without the risk of losing them, and with the pleasure of novelty.”

Muchas cosas de gusto no se han de poseer en propiedad. … Gózanse las cosas ajenas con doblada fruición, esto es, sin el riesgo del daño y con el gusto de la novedad.
Maxim 263
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Virtue alone is for real; all else is sham. Talent and greatness depend on virtue, not on fortune. Only virtue is sufficient unto herself. She makes us love the living and remember the dead.”

La virtud es cosa de veras, todo lo demás de burlas. La capacidad y grandeza se ha de medir por la virtud, no por la fortuna. Ella sola se basta a sí misma. Vivo el hombre, le haze amable; y muerto, memorable.
Maxim 300 (p. 168)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Imagination travels faster than sight. Deceit comes in through the ears, but usually leaves through the eyes.”

Adelántase más la imaginación que la vista, y el engaño, que entra de ordinario por el oído, viene a salir por los ojos.
Maxim 282 (p. 159)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Politeness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.”

La galantería y la honra tienen esta ventaja, que se quedan: aquélla en quien la usa, ésta en quien la haze.
Maxim 118: (p. 66)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Those who want to look like hard workers give the impression that they aren't up to their jobs.”

Todos los que hazen del hazendado en el empleo dan indicio de que no lo merecían.
Maxim 106 (p. 59)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Some marry the first information they receive, and turn what comes later into their concubine. Since deceit is always first to arrive, there is no room left for truth.”

Cásanse algunos con la primera información, de suerte que las demás son concubinas, y como se adelanta siempre la mentira, no queda lugar después para la verdad.
Maxim 227 (p. 128)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Some die because they feel everything, others because they feel nothing. Some are fools because they suffer no regrets, and others because they do.”

Unos mueren porque sienten y otros viven porque no sienten. Y assí, unos son necios porque no mueren de sentimiento, y otros lo son porque mueren de él.
Maxim 208 (p. 118)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Don't live by generalities, unless it be to act virtuously, and don't ask desire to follow precise laws, for you will have to drink tomorrow from the water you scorn today.”

No vaya por generalidades en el vivir, si ya no fuere en favor de la virtud, ni intime leyes precisas al querer, que avrá de bever mañana del agua que desprecia hoi.
Maxim 288 (p. 162)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“The person who does not know how to put up with others should retire into himself, if indeed he can suffer even himself.”

El que no se hallare con ánimo de sufrir apele al retiro de sí mismo, si es que aun a sí mismo se ha de poder tolerar.
Maxim 159 (p. 90)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Better to be cheated by the price than by the merchandise.”

Más vale ser engañado en el precio que en la mercadería.
Maxim 157 (p. 89)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Readiness is the mother of luck.”

La presteza es madre de la dicha.
Maxim 53 (p. 30)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Not believing others implies that you yourself are deceitful. The liar suffers twice: he neither believes nor is believed.”

Quanto que el no creer es indicio del mentir; porque el mentiroso tiene dos males, que ni cree ni es creído.
Maxim 154 (p. 87)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Do something well, and that is quickly enough.”

Harto presto, si bien.
Maxim 57 (p. 32)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“Some people belong entirely to others … They have not a day, not an hour to call their own, so completely do they give themselves to others. This is true even in matters of understanding. Some people know everything for others and nothing for themselves.”

Otros todos son ajenos, que la necedad siempre va por demasías, y aquí infeliz: no tienen día, ni aun hora suya, con tal exceso de ajenos, que alguno fue llamado “el de todos”.
Aun en el entendimiento, que para todos saben y para sí ignoran.
Maxim 252
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“To overvalue something is a form of lying.”

El encarecer es ramo de mentir.
Maxim 41 (p. 24)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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“The one rule for pleasing: whet the appetite, keep people hungry.”

Única regla de agradar: coger el apetito picado con el hambre con que quedó.
Maxim 299 (p. 168)
The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)

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