Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Oráculo Portátil e Arte da Prudência

Rate this book
«O Oráculo Portátil e Arte da Prudência é o anacronismo sem erro, o exercício de futurologia sem mandamentos que o guie. O próprio título é perverso, pois desafia costumes que a prudência aconselha. As palavras surgem em contratempo, inclusive com o Barroco, que então perdia o brilho, e a audiência que procura não são os perdidos que necessitam de uma luz, mas o homem comum. O próprio oráculo que dá as respostas não é nenhuma divindade, nem um sobredotado, mas um homem de carne e osso, com dúvidas.

A exasperação que Gracián manifesta para com os ignorantes não descura a compreensão que tem pelas injustiças do mundo e a universalidade das maleitas que podem afectar individual e colectivamente os indivíduos. No livro, é feita uma exposição das dúvidas que a nossa relação com a sociedade levanta, bem como uma explanação da natureza humana, com que, mesmo perdoados os séculos, nos sentimos próximos.»

Miguel Meruje

148 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2022

5 people want to read

About the author

Baltasar Gracián

428 books456 followers
Baltasar Gracián y Morales, SJ, formerly Anglicized as Baltazar Gracian, was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón). His proto-existentialist writings were lauded by Nietzsche and Schopenhauer.

The son of a doctor, in his childhood Gracián lived with his uncle, who was a priest. He studied at a Jesuit school in 1621 and 1623 and theology in Zaragoza. He was ordained in 1627 and took his final vows in 1635.

He assumed the vows of the Jesuits in 1633 and dedicated himself to teaching in various Jesuit schools. He spent time in Huesca, where he befriended the local scholar Vincencio Juan de Lastanosa, who helped him achieve an important milestone in his intellectual upbringing. He acquired fame as a preacher, although some of his oratorical displays, such as reading a letter sent from Hell from the pulpit, were frowned upon by his superiors. He was named Rector of the Jesuit college of Tarragona and wrote works proposing models for courtly conduct such as El héroe (The Hero), El político (The Politician), and El discreto (The Discreet One). During the Spanish war with Catalonia and France, he was chaplain of the army that liberated Lleida in 1646.

In 1651, he published the first part of the Criticón (Faultfinder) without the permission of his superiors, whom he disobeyed repeatedly. This attracted the Society's displeasure. Ignoring the reprimands, he published the second part of Criticón in 1657, as a result was sanctioned and exiled to Graus at the beginning of 1658. Soon Gracián wrote to apply for membership in another religious order. His demand was not met, but his sanction was eased off: in April of 1658 he was sent to several minor positions under the College of Tarazona. His physical decline prevented him from attending the provincial congregation of Calatayud and on 6 December 1658 Gracián died in Tarazona, near Zaragoza in the Kingdom of Aragón.

Gracián is the most representative writer of the Spanish Baroque literary style known as Conceptismo (Conceptism), of which he was the most important theoretician; his Agudeza y arte de ingenio (Wit and the Art of Inventiveness) is at once a poetic, a rhetoric and an anthology of the conceptist style.

The Aragonese village where he was born (Belmonte de Calatayud), changed its name to Belmonte de Gracian in his honour.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
0 (0%)
4 stars
0 (0%)
3 stars
1 (100%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
No one has reviewed this book yet.

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.