The Art of Worldly Wisdom

by Balthasar Gracian

A long-lost, 300-year-old book of wisdom on how to live successfully yet responsibly in a society governed by self-interest. As acute as Machiavelli yet as humanistic and scrupulously moral as Marcus Aurelius.

Genres: Philosophy

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2022

Reviews

[Lars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many good points in archaic presentation

Most maxims match sophisticated common sense and are obviously correct. However, I am unsure whether the book provides value in addition to this: The are so many similar and overlapping maxims that it is easy to miss something. This is made worse by the archaic, artistic and hard to understand tone in which the maxims are written. If the goal is just the understanding itself, contemporary books are likely more suitable.
The main advantage of this book is the historical context - it is fascinating how similar things were back then.

[jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having completed this book I am undecided what to make of it. The wisdoms are classed as maxims. It makes one think and wonders who is putting these maxims into practise. Maybe if I had tried some of them when I was younger things may have been different but we all have our own personality. Interesting to read and to see Balthasar's viewpoint not sure I agree with all of the maxims whilst others are very intriguing.

[Reading_as_a_pastime]

Finally...