Baltazar Gracian was a 17th Century Jesuit who studied and wrote about Europe’s most powerful and successful people. He studied the lives of royalty and their counsel, and Europe’s great ambassadors and successful merchants. The fruit of his investigation was his book the “The Art of Worldly Wisdom”, which today is published in several languages. As you read his book, you feel as if it is a personal correspondence to the reader about the finer qualities of communicating and collaborating. It is about wisdom, prudence, and grace.
Sara Joseph Hale said that “there is no influence so powerful as that of the mother, but next in efficacy is that of teacher”. We all need teachers and counsel in our lives to build efficacy. We define efficacy as the ability to achieve something or to make something happen. Self-efficacy is task-specific such as riding a bicycle, painting with watercolors, or communicating effectively.
When we are children, we learn from our parents, teachers, and our friends, but as we continue on our journey as young adults, we still need sage advice and counsel. We will always need it. Gracian says to “associate with those you can learn from. Make your friends your teachers and blend the usefulness of learning with the pleasure of conversation”.
We should all have models from which we can draw wisdom. They may be our parents and other people of great understanding whom we can emulate the best qualities of their character. Wisdom comes from a continuous discovery and openness to other views. If we choose to remain where we are, the world will pass us by. Ignorance of what is available to us keeps us from the higher levels of living. The journey is difficult, but our journey begins when we accept that what we know is far less than what we do know. Here are some other useful aphorisms from Baltazar Gracians’s book:
“Know how to take a hint- the truths that matter most to us are half spoken, fully understood only by the prudent”
“It is an uncommon skill to study and learn through many, and know more than all of them together” “Do this and when you speak, you speak for as many sages as counseled you”.
“Choose heroic models and emulate their finest qualities. Nothing makes the spirit so ambitious as the trumpet of someone’s else’s fame”
“Be excessive in your perfections but moderate about showing them. The brighter the torch, the more it consumes itself and the less it lasts”.