Advice from a seventeenth-century guide to human relations and achieving success is accompanied by an account of the life of the author, a Spanish Jesuit

The successor to the best-seller, The Art of Worldly Wisdom, offers another collection of aphorisms from the records of a seventeenth-century Jesuit, designed to inspire leaders to new heights. 50,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.

Baltasar Gracián’s Art of Worldly Wisdom offers practical advice on how to make your way in a chaotic world, and how to make it well. The three hundred aphorisms contained here, first published as Oraculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia in 1647, remain remarkably relevant today.  The political and social upheavals of Spain’s Golden Era bear a striking resemblance to 21st century reality--political transformations, economic battles that pit local interests against global forces, competing religious outlooks seeking to shape secular worlds, and new technologies torn between democratization and centralization.  Gracián’s aphorisms, as much poetry as instruction, address us today as practical guides for civility in an often uncivil world, and may serve as invitations to participate in making an uncivil world as civil as possible.

Balthasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) assumed his final vows of the Jesuits in 1635, having been raised by his uncle, a priest, and studying theology in Zaragoza, Spain. Gracián became quite famous as a preacher, and wrote a number of literary works concerning politics, practical advice for life, and philosophy. Today he is known as the most representative writer of the Spanish baroque style called Conceptismo (Conceptism), a literary style characterized by succinct and subtle expressions of witty, significant ideas. "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" is a collection of about three hundred maxims and advice with commentary. His poetic use of rhetoric made Gracián appealing to readers, but because he published much of his work without the permission of his superiors, he was chastised by the church, and eventually sanctioned and exiled. This book was Gracián's most internationally popular work, and was translated into German by Schopenhauer, and into English by Joseph Jacobs in 1892.

This perenially popular book of advice on how to achieve personal and professional success is valued for its timeless insights on how to make one's way in the world. Written in the seventeenth century by a Spanish Jesuit scholar, the teachings are strikingly modern in tone and address universal concerns such as friendship, morality, effective leadership, and how to manage one's emotions. The Art of Worldly Wisdom is for anyone seeking to combine ethical behavior with worldly success.