Collection: Baltasar Gracián

Baltasar Gracián, 1601 to 1658, was a Spanish Jesuit who moved among courtiers, soldiers and patrons, and published partly against the wishes of his own order. In 1647 he reduced what he had learned about people to three hundred short rules.

They are brutally practical. How to tell a real friend from someone using you. When to speak and when to shut up. How to keep your dignity in a room full of people who have none. How to leave while you are still wanted. Each maxim runs a few lines, so the book can be opened anywhere and closed again in a minute.