Rating: 
Summary: An excellent guide to a successful and wise life
Review: "The Art of Worldly Wisdom," though over-flowing with
excellent strategies for a successful worldly life, is primarily devoted to making one a better person. The following of these maxims cannot help but to make one a success in both worldly matters and in spiritual development.
Regardless of whether it is compared with the other classics on strategy or morality, Gracian's "The Art of Worldly Wisdom,"
will emerge as one of the most important in both style and
effectiveness. Truly a timeless classic.
Rating:
Summary: Learn to re-think your dealings with people
Review: Baalstar mastered the art of political, social and religious protocol. Very common sense advice that uses the resolve of Taoism and the morality of Judeo-Christian beliefs without comprominsing the realities of the world.
Rating:
Summary: A GUIDE TO HUMAN NATURE, LIFE, Reactions And Interactions
Review: El Arte de la Prudencia Baltasar Gracián.Lo bueno si breve, dos veces bueno. Es esta una de las citas que se pueden extraer de tan buen libro de consejos y ejemplo del barroco en la literatura. Frases cargadas de giros del lenguaje, acompañadas de sabiduría por un hombre muy sagaz para aconsejar en materia de ser prudentes en la vida cotidiana. Este pequeño volumen, puede usarse como uno de esos libros de cabecera en el cual se leen párrafos todos los días. Conceptista por excelencia, Gracián nos ilumina grandemente en una época en la cual el ingenio parece relegado por el exceso de información a la que tenemos que hacer frente. A veces en nuestro afán de poseer conocimientos y estar enterados de la ultima cosa que pasa, no cultivamos el ingenio, sin saber que eso nos ayudara en muchos casos. Por ejemplo el ingenio nos puede ayudar allí donde la avalancha de conocimientos inútiles se queda corta. Podemos considerar el ingenio como la habilidad de manejarnos con los datos que tenemos para sacar partido de situaciones inesperadas. También podría ser la forma ingeniosa en que encontramos soluciones insólitas para cosas cotidianas, que las personas bien informadas, pero sin ingenio ven como avasalladoras. En definitiva una buena lectura para aquellos que deseen cultivar su ingenio. Luis Méndez.
Rating:
Summary: Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno
Review: El Arte de la Prudencia Baltasar Gracián. Lo bueno si breve, dos veces bueno. Es esta una de las citas que se pueden extraer de tan buen libro de consejos y ejemplo del barroco en la literatura. Frases cargadas de giros del lenguaje, acompañadas de sabiduría por un hombre muy sagaz para aconsejar en materia de ser prudentes en la vida cotidiana. Este pequeño volumen, puede usarse como uno de esos libros de cabecera en el cual se leen párrafos todos los días. Conceptista por excelencia, Gracián nos ilumina grandemente en una época en la cual el ingenio parece relegado por el exceso de información a la que tenemos que hacer frente. A veces en nuestro afán de poseer conocimientos y estar enterados de la ultima cosa que pasa, no cultivamos el ingenio, sin saber que eso nos ayudara en muchos casos. Por ejemplo el ingenio nos puede ayudar allí donde la avalancha de conocimientos inútiles se queda corta. Podemos considerar el ingenio como la habilidad de manejarnos con los datos que tenemos para sacar partido de situaciones inesperadas. También podría ser la forma ingeniosa en que encontramos soluciones insólitas para cosas cotidianas, que las personas bien informadas, pero sin ingenio ven como avasalladoras. En definitiva una buena lectura para aquellos que deseen cultivar su ingenio. Luis Méndez.
Rating:
Summary: A fine book for rare people
Review: Gracian had a splendid understanding of human nature. This book is just phenomenal, and it is not intended to be read and left on the shelf, it must be digested little by little, like the Book of Proverbs.
His insights have been copied and rewritten all the time, because they are universal in nature. It is interesting to notice that even though Gracian gives counsel on how to deal with people and even enemies, the BIG difference we see in him when compared with other authors like Machiavelli (whom Gracian detested) is his love for virtues like courage, generosity and kindness.
Gracian writes in order to make people become better human beings, not to give advice on how to win a war or have success in business, with a finesse that unfortunately is not found easily any more in our brute and materialistic world of today.
Rating:
Summary: Chinese translation is also good
Review: I bought a Chinese translation one as I did not see the original one in local bookstore. but I the Chinese translation is also as good as the English one after seeing the sample pages. In fact, Gracian's thinking is quite similar to the traditional Chinese thinkers such as Lao Zi, founder of Taoism, a thousand years ago. That's why it was translated to Simplified Chinese as it can be easily accepted by all Chinese worldwide. Of course, Chinese translation is much cheaper, a brand new one just cost less than US$4. And also, Chinese wordings can fully translate the English version of the book. I will recommend books about Lao Zi if you like this one. Of course, this book is easier to read if you don't know much about Chinese culture. Even as a Chinese myself, I found the idea of Taoism very difficult to understand when I was young. I even think about, "What the hell is that?" But as you grow older, when more problems arise between person and person, you understand more, about Taoism and life.
Rating:
Summary: A rare find and undiscovered treasure!!
Review: I first checked this book out in a library years ago out of curiousity. I was dumbfound that this was written centuries ago! I was amazed that this book wasn't as huge as the holy bible! Everything you need about tactful life strategies. A true rare gem! I loved it so much I bought many copies and gave them as gifts to friend and family. Now this book is like a bible to me!
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: I love this book. It is my all time favorite. I give it as a gift to high school graduates. I only wish I had read it when I was at my Jesuit high school. If you went to a Jesuit school you can really appreciate this gem. I try to read from it everyday. It's that great.
Rating:
Summary: A GUIDE TO HUMAN NATURE, LIFE, Reactions And Interactions
Review: I received this book as a gift in 1992, I had no idea what I had been given..The Art Of Wordly Wisdom, is "THE" guide to Human Nature, a Handbook on Life, It is a brilliant how it describes human nature/behavior in all scopes of life's pursuits and how to handle any situation, not based on incident but based on human reaction and interaction to the incident...The writings are ageless, the book should be in everyone's library and read often..It is not a one read book, but one you can take out when dealing with whatever life may throw at you...I have used it and I have never found anything better on human nature and it always find a way of getting you out of the worst and even the best of situations. It is not religious, not new age teachings,not cult, it is common sense,you could say psychology by examples of life and people....
Nietzche and Shopenhauer were fans of Gracian, but none ever reached his clarity and accessibility..THE translation by Christopher Maurer is the ONLY ONE worth reading, for he is as clear as Gracian...Don't bother with the rest...
Baltasar Gracian is a man still ahead of his time...
Rating:
Summary: A GUIDE TO HUMAN NATURE, LIFE, Reactions And Interactions
Review: I received this book as a gift in 1992, I had no idea what I had been given..The Art Of Wordly Wisdom, is "THE" guide to Human Nature, a Handbook on Life, It is a brilliant how it describes human nature/behavior in all scopes of life's pursuits and how to handle any situation, not based on incident but based on human reaction and interaction to the incident...The writings are ageless, the book should be in everyone's library and read often..It is not a one read book, but one you can take out when dealing with whatever life may throw at you...I have used it and I have never found anything better on human nature and it always find a way of getting you out of the worst and even the best of situations. It is not religious, not new age teachings,not cult, it is common sense,you could say psychology by examples of life and people....
Nietzche and Shopenhauer were fans of Gracian, but none ever reached his clarity and accessibility..THE translation by Christopher Maurer is the ONLY ONE worth reading, for he is as clear as Gracian...Don't bother with the rest...
Baltasar Gracian is a man still ahead of his time...
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