Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man

by Andrew Lynn

  ‘Thus you see how the exhibition of art and study so intense destroys the grace in everything. Which of you is there who does not laugh when our friend Messer Pierpaolo dances in his peculiar way, with those capers of his legs stiff to the toe and head motionless, as if he were a stick, and with such intentness that he actually seems to be counting the steps? What eye so blind as not to see in this the ungracefulness of affectation, and in many men and women who are here present, the grace of that nonchalant ease (for in the case of bodily movements many call it thus), showing by word or laugh or gesture that they have no care and are thinking more of everything else than of that, to make the onlooker think they can hardly go amiss?’

  27. Messer Bernardo Bibbiena here said, without waiting:

  ‘Now, at last, our friend Messer Roberto has found someone to praise the manner of his dancing, as all the rest of you seem to value it lightly; because if this merit consists in nonchalance, and in appearing to take no heed and to be thinking more of everything else than of what you are doing, Messer Roberto in dancing has no peer on earth; for to show plainly that he is not thinking about it, he often lets the cloak drop from his shoulders and the slippers from his feet, and still goes on dancing without picking up either the one or the other.’

  Then the Count replied:

  ‘Since you insist on my talking, I will speak further of our faults. Do you not perceive that what you call nonchalance in Messer Roberto, is really affectation? For it is clearly seen that he is striving with all his might to seem to be taking no thought, and this is taking too much thought; and since it passes the true limits of moderation, his nonchalance is affected and unbecoming; and it is a thing that works precisely the reverse of the effect intended, that is the concealment of art. Thus in nonchalance (which is praiseworthy in itself), I do not think that it is less a vice of affectation to let the clothes fall from one’s back, than in care of dress (which also is praiseworthy in itself) to hold the head stiff for fear of disarranging one’s locks, or to carry a mirror in the peak of one’s cap and a comb in one’s sleeve, and to have a valet follow one about the streets with sponge and brush: for such care in dress and such nonchalance both touch upon excess, which is always offensive and contrary to that pure and charming simplicity which is so pleasing to the human mind.

  ‘You see how ungraceful a rider is who strives to sit bolt upright in the saddle after the manner we are wont to call Venetian, as compared with another who seems not to be thinking about it, and sits his horse as free and steady as if he were afoot. How much more pleasing and how much more praised is a gentleman who carries arms, if he be modest, speak little and boast little, than another who is forever sounding his own praises, and with blasphemy and bluster seems to be hurling defiance at the world! This too is naught but affectation of wishing to appear bold. And so it is with every exercise, nay with everything that can be done or said in the world.’

  28. Then my lord Magnifico said:

  ‘This is true also with music, wherein it is a very great fault to place two perfect consonances one after the other, so that our very sense of hearing abhors it and often enjoys a second or seventh, which in itself is a harsh and intolerable discord. And the reason is that repetition of perfect consonances begets satiety and exhibits a too affected harmony; which is avoided by introducing imperfect consonances, and thus a kind of contrast is given, whereby our ears are held more in suspense, and more eagerly await and enjoy the perfect consonances, and sometimes delight in that discord of the second or seventh, as in something unpremeditated.’

  ‘You see then,’ replied the Count, ‘the harmful effect of affectation in this as in other things. It is said also to have been proverbial among some very excellent painters of antiquity, that over diligence is harmful, and Protogenes is said to have been censured by Apelles because he did not know when to take his hand from the tablet.

  Then Messer Cesare said:

  ‘Methinks our friend Fra Serafino has this same fault, of not knowing when to take his hands from the table, at least until all the food has been taken from it too.’

  The Count laughed, and continued:

  ‘Apelles meant that in his painting Protogenes did not know when he had finished, which was the same thing as reproving him for being affected in his work. Thus this excellence, which is the opposite of affectation and which for the present we call nonchalance, besides being the true fountain from which grace springs, carries with it another ornament, which, in accompanying any human action whatever and however trifling it be, not only at once reveals the knowledge of him who performs it, but often leads us to rate his knowledge as much greater than in fact it is because it impresses upon the minds of the bystanders the idea that he who does well so easily, knows much more than he does, and that if he were to use care and effort in what he did, he could do it far better.

  ‘And to multiply like examples, here is a man who handles weapons, either about to throw a dart or holding a sword in his hand or other weapon; if he nimbly and without thinking puts himself in an attitude of readiness, with such ease that his body and all his members seem to fall into that posture naturally and quite without effort – although he do no more, he will prove himself to everyone to be perfect in that exercise. Likewise in dancing, a single step, a single movement of the person that is graceful and not forced, soon shows the knowledge of the dancer. A musician who in singing utters a single note ending with sweet tone in a little group of four notes with such ease as to seem spontaneous, shows by that single touch that he can do much more than he is doing. Often too in painting, a single line not laboured, a single brush-stroke easily drawn, so that it seems as if the hand moves unbidden to its aim according to the painter’s wish, without being guided by care or any skill, clearly reveals the excellence of the craftsman, which every man appreciates according to his capacity for judging. And the same is true of nearly everything else.’

  7

  Baltasar Gracián, The Art of Worldly Wisdom

  Introduction

  There is no better guide to living and advancing in the world than Baltasar Gracián’s The Art of Worldly Wisdom.

  Gracián is a truth-teller and a real-talker. There is no feel-good tomfoolery here. He provides precise and pithy instruction on how to live in world of rogues and charlatans – and guidance for the man who wishes to survive and prosper in that world without becoming rogue or charlatan himself.

  The book – a collection of 300 maxims – has been of enduring appeal. It was ‘especially fitted to be the manual of those who live in the great world,’ said Schopenhauer. ‘To read it once through is obviously not enough; it is a book made for constant use as occasion serves – in short, to be a companion for life.’ Nietzsche was equally impressed. ‘Europe has never produced anything finer or more complicated in matters of moral subtlety,’ he thought. Churchill is said to have read it on the ship taking him to the Boer Wars. The most recent editions have sold in hundreds of thousands and in multiple languages.

  What, then, is the source of its appeal?

  Gracián’s foundation stone is his candour. He looks at the world straight and tells us how he sees it without asking or expecting it to be anything other than it actually is – a play of appearances. ‘Things do not pass for what they are but for what they seem,’ he says. Most people are deceived by appearances and only see what is shown to them.

  In this environment, the prudent man neither relies wholly on his own intrinsic virtue and good deeds nor does he turn to superficiality and deception. What he does instead is to both be of use and at the same time show himself to be of use – to close the gap between appearance and reality rather than disregarding either one of them.

  The essential quality needed in order to negotiate this complex and dangerous world is self-possession. There is no higher rule than that over oneself and over one’s impulses, says Gracián. It means never to be put out even by the most adverse circumstances. It also means: don’t talk about yourself or parade your
position; speak well of rivals and detractors; and don’t be importunate or overeager to please. It is characteristic of Gracián that he does not advocate this self-possession on a theological or moral basis. He advocates it for the fundamental reason that it brings benefit. For it is this kind of self-restraint, says Gracián, that displays a man’s superiority and advances him in the world.

  Having established his self-possession, the wise man then accommodates himself to the social world in which he finds himself. Adapt yourself to the moods of those around you, says Gracián. Think with the few and speak with the many. Adopt the fashions of the present rather than those of the past. Don’t on your own condemn what all others approve. And don’t hold your views too firmly: you may be wrong, and – even if you are not wrong – your willingness to consider alternative views will be taken by others as a courtesy, and will serve you well.

  Ultimately, The Art of Worldly Wisdom communicates a certain way of seeing the world. Man, says Gracián, is a fundamentally social creature. Outside society, he is little more than an animal and deserves to be treated like one. There is nothing wrong in taking the social approach by checking one’s own passions and prejudices. Quite the contrary. It is the mark of the civilised, sophisticated, and superior man to do so.

  * * *

  Selected Maxims

  1. Everything is at its Acme;

  especially the art of making one’s way in the world. There is more required nowadays to make a single wise man than formerly to make Seven Sages, and more is needed nowadays to deal with a single person than was required with a whole people in former time.

  2. Character and Intellect:

  the two poles of our capacity; one without the other is but halfway to happiness. Intellect sufficeth not, character is also needed. On the other hand, it is the fool’s misfortune to fail in obtaining the position, the employment, the neighbourhood, and the circle of friends that suit him.

  3. Keep Matters for a Time in Suspense.

  Admiration at their novelty heightens the value of your achievements. It is both useless and insipid to play with the cards on the table. If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse expectation, especially when the importance of your position makes you the object of general attention. Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very mystery arouses veneration. And when you explain, be not too explicit, just as you do not expose your inmost thoughts in ordinary intercourse. Cautious silence is the holy of holies of worldly wisdom. A resolution declared is never highly thought of; it only leaves room for criticism. And if it happens to fail, you are doubly unfortunate. Besides, you imitate the Divine way when you cause men to wonder and watch.

  5. Create a Feeling of Dependence.

  Not he that adorns but he that adores makes a divinity. The wise man would rather see men needing him than thanking him. To keep them on the threshold of hope is diplomatic, to trust to their gratitude boorish; hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one. More is to be got from dependence than from courtesy. He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well, and the orange once sucked falls from the golden platter into the wastebasket. When dependence disappears, good behaviour goes with it as well as respect. Let it be one of the chief lessons of experience to keep hope alive without entirely satisfying it, by preserving it to make oneself always needed even by a patron on the throne. But let not silence be carried to excess lest you go wrong, nor let another’s failing grow incurable for the sake of your own advantage.

  7. Avoid Victories over Superiors.

  All victories breed hate, and that over your superior is foolish or fatal. Superiority is always detested, a fortiori superiority over superiority. Caution can gloss over common advantages; for example, good looks may be cloaked by careless attire. There be some that will grant you precedence in good luck or good temper, but none in good sense, least of all a prince; for good sense is a royal prerogative, any claim to that is a case of lèse majesté. They are princes, and wish to be so in that most princely of qualities. They will allow a man to help them but not to surpass them, and will have any advice tendered them appear like a recollection of something they have forgotten rather than as a guide to something they cannot find. The stars teach us this finesse with happy tact; though they are his children and brilliant like him, they never rival the brilliancy of the sun.

  8. To be without Passions.

  ‘Tis a privilege of the highest order of mind. Their very eminence redeems them from being affected by transient and low impulses. There is no higher rule than that over oneself, over one’s impulses: there is the triumph of free will. While passion rules the character, no aiming at high office; the less the higher. It is the only refined way of avoiding scandals; nay, ‘tis the shortest way back to good repute.

  9. Cultivate those who can teach you.

  Let friendly intercourse be a school of knowledge, and culture be taught through conversation: thus you make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversation with the advantages of instruction. Sensible persons thus enjoy alternating pleasures: they reap applause for what they say and gain instruction from what they hear. We are always attracted to others by our own interest, but in this case it is of a higher kind. Wise men frequent the houses of great noblemen not because they are temples of vanity, but as theatres of good breeding. There be gentlemen who have the credit of worldly wisdom because they are not only themselves oracles of all nobleness by their example and their behaviour, but those who surround them form a well-bred academy of worldly wisdom of the best and noblest kind.

  14. The Thing Itself and the Way it is done.

  ‘Substance’ is not enough: ‘accident’ is also required, as the scholastics say. A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a ‘No’, sweetens truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself. The how plays a large part in affairs; a good manner steals into the affections. Fine behaviour is a joy in life, and a pleasant expression helps out of a difficulty in a remarkable way.

  19. Arouse no Exaggerated Expectations on entering.

  It is the usual ill luck of all celebrities not to fulfil afterwards the expectations beforehand formed of them. The real can never equal the imagined, for it is easy to form ideals but very difficult to realise them. Imagination weds Hope and gives birth to much more than things are in themselves. However great the excellences, they never suffice to fulfil expectations, and as men find themselves disappointed with their exorbitant expectations they are more ready to be disillusioned than to admire. Hope is a great falsifier of truth; let skill guard against this by ensuring that fruition exceeds desire. A few creditable attempts at the beginning are sufficient to arouse curiosity without pledging one to the final object. It is better that reality should surpass the design and is better than was thought. This rule does not apply to the wicked, for the same exaggeration is a great aid to them; they are defeated amid general applause, and what seemed at first extreme ruin comes to be thought quite bearable.

  23. Be Spotless:

  the indispensable condition of perfection. Few live without some weak point, either physical or moral, which they pamper because they could easily cure it. The keenness of others often regrets to see a slight defect attaching itself to a whole assembly of elevated qualities, and yet a single cloud can hide the whole of the sun. There are likewise patches on our reputation which ill will soon finds out and is continually noticing. The highest skill is to transform them into ornament. So Caesar hid his natural defects with the laurel.

  26. Find out each Man’s Thumbscrew.

  ‘Tis the art of setting their wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where to get at anyone. Every volition has a special motive which varies according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of fame, others of self-interest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play. Knowing any man’s mainspring of motive you have as it were the key to his wil
l. Have resort to primary motors, which are not always the highest but more often the lowest part of his nature: there are more dispositions badly organised than well. First guess a man’s ruling passion, appeal to it by a word, set it in motion by temptation, and you will infallibly give checkmate to his freedom of will.

  27. Prize Intensity more than Extent.

  Excellence resides in quality, not in quantity. The best is always few and rare: much lowers value. Even among men giants are commonly the real dwarfs. Some reckon books by the thickness, as if they were written to try the brawn more than the brain. Extent alone never rises above mediocrity: it is the misfortune of universal geniuses that in attempting to be at home everywhere, are so nowhere. Intensity gives eminence and rises to the heroic in matters sublime.

  31. Select the Lucky and avoid the Unlucky.

  Ill luck is generally the penalty of folly, and there is no disease so contagious to those who share in it. Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. The greatest skill at cards is to know when to discard; the smallest of current trumps is worth more than the ace of trumps of the last game. When in doubt, follow the suit of the wise and prudent; sooner or later they will win the odd trick.