Name: The Art of Worldly Wisdom
ISBN: 9781435109858

The Art of Worldly Wisdom

This perennially popular book of advice on how to achieve personal and professional success is treasured for its timeless insights on how to make one’s way in the world. Written in the seventeenth century by Spanish Jesuit scholar Baltasar Gracián, the teachings are strikingly modern in tone and address universal concerns such as friendship, morality, effective leadership, and managing emotions. An enlightening guide for life, this edition also includes an informative introduction by Willis Barnstone that explores Gracián’s background and provides insightful historical and literary context. This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.

What Hacker News says

WorkerBee28474Nov 2024

Another title (possible more common in English) for the book is 'The Art Of Worldly Wisdom'.

It's a great little book.

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oidarMay 2024

The War of Art by Pressfield, Natural Meditation by Dean Sluyter, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián are books I often come back to ever couple of years.

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WorkerBee28474May 2024

The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián really is a hidden gem

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rramadassApr 2023

I have a good collection of books on the topic of "Worldly Wisdom". Most books will span the categories and you have to tease their teachings into the above three buckets. When reading these books always remember that they were written in a specific Context/Time and hence would need reinterpretation in your specific context before application. Also as much as possible go to the original sources/authoritative translations instead of "popular" accounts of the same which are almost always dumbed down and virtually useless. The essence is in understanding the nuances and not the obvious "sound bite".

Here is a partial list in no specific order (lookup their reviews on Amazon/elsewhere on the web for details);

1) The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence by Baltasar Gracian translated by Jeremy Robbins. This book is also available as "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" translated by many others. Of these the one by Christopher Maurer is noteworthy.

2) A Pocket Mirror for Heroes by Baltasar Gracian translated by Christopher Maurer.

3) The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. Of the many translations, the one by Peter Bondanella in Oxford World's Classics is noteworthy.

4) Maxims and Reflections (Ricordi) by Francesco Guicciardini translated by Mario Domandi.

5) The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra by Roger Boesche - A very nice summary of the magnum opus "Arthashastra" from Ancient India.

6) King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya's Arthasastra translated and annotated by Patrick Olivelle - A very good and modern translation of a large text.

7) The Essence of Politics (Sanskrit: Nitisara) by Kamandaki translated by Jesse Ross Knutson - A shorter Ancient Indian text in the vein of Arthashastra.

8) The Pancatantra: The Book of India's Folk Wisdom translated by Patrick Olivelle.

9) Tirukkuṟaḷ by Tiruvalluvar (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kural for details) - For a good English translation see the one translated by P.S.Sundaram and published in Penguin Classics.

10) The Art of War by Sun Tzu translated by Ralph D. Sawyer.

11) The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China translated by Ralph D. Sawyer.

12) [The Complete] Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi translated by Kenji Tokitsu.

I have left out the obvious works by Epictetus/Seneca/Cicero/Marcus Aurelius/etc. since they are all well known.

The above is a good representative of the three categories drawn from different cultures and should get you started.

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rramadassSep 2021

My Sympathies.

You are still young and hence my advice would be to train your mindset to look at the world "Realistically as it is" rather than "Idealistically as you want it to be". Learn to play the "Game" but don't lose your intrinsic character.

Some resources you may find helpful;

* Books on Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer (see my comment history for book names).

* Robert Greene's popular books (eg. The 48 Laws of Power).

* The classic "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" by Baltasar Gracian. Get the Penguin translation by Jeremy Robbins titled "The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence".

* The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod - Provides a game theoretic approach.

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rramadassMar 2021

I wouldn't do this and keep it around. We have all had rejections, particularly in these highly competitive times but the trick is to forget about them after doing a quick postmortem and learning any lessons. The reason is that psychologically we are wired to focus on the negatives and ruminate endlessly on it leading to self-doubt and a sapping of self-confidence. This is absolutely not good for long-term psychological growth and by extension, your life.

There is also the fact that "recruiting" methods are pseudo-scientific and do not reflect the candidate's ability (outside of very narrow specialized fields) at all. People also tend to make biased snap judgements if you display your failures/faults rather openly. Always project your strengths and don't advertise your faults.

PS: Read The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence by Baltasar Gracian trans. by Jeremy Robbins (aka The Art of Worldly Wisdom) for some pragmatic approach to life.

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