The book "The Book of Wisdom--The Eternal Classic of Living in the World" talks about the strategies of knowing people, observing things, judging, and acting--strategies that make people successful and perfect in this world.The whole book is composed of 300 proverbs and aphorisms. These aphorisms are so delicious that they must be shared with friends and colleagues.The ideal reader of this book is the person who needs to deal with others because of his daily business-he must find other people's intentions, win their favor and friendship, or counter their tricks and make others' wills helpless.Like all aphorisms, the reading method of this book is to chew and swallow slowly, and just a little at a time, so as to experience the three flavors.

The purpose of the whole book is to take the duality that is considered quite reasonable in the 17th century and our era as the pivot, and to regard life as a war between reality and likelihood, appearance and reality. Image makers" and "motivation experts" offer advice, and they also offer advice to those who are honest and honest, insisting that "substance" is the most important thing, and "image" is second. "Be real, but also show" is Gracian's penetrating advice (Proverbs 130).The essence of this phrase is that good people are always the easiest to be fooled, just like sheep among wolves, we should adjust the innocence of doves with the wisdom of snakes, and decide our own way based on the current words and deeds of others, and it is not appropriate to focus on their possible or future performance .

The concept of this book is witty and witty, and has always been praised by people.Madame de Chabrell, a friend of La Rochefoucauld, learned of this book and learned from it.Addison (Joseph Addison) and Nietzsche are very different people, but they value this book as much.Schopenhauer was delighted to read it, and gladly translated the book into German.Nietzsche said: "On the subtleties of spirituality and morality, there is no more exquisite and complex work in Europe." Schopenhauer believes that this book is "absolutely unique": This book teaches the art that everyone is willing to practice, so it is suitable for everyone to hold a copy, and it is especially suitable for people who are up and down in the world of mortals, especially for young people who aspire to develop in this world.The teachings in the book, if they don't read this book, they will only get something after reading it for a long time. It is obviously not enough for Wei Ping to read it once. A lifelong companion.

Who is the author of this perfect strategy?It has been argued that the content must have come from a cynic or a Machiavelli ilk.In fact, Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658), a Jesuit priest full of zeal for the world, hated human folly.However, the book "The Book of Wisdom--Eternal Life Classics" says that it is possible for people to achieve perfection, and it goes on to say that with the help of skills, goodness will surely overcome evil.In "The Book of Wisdom - The Eternal Classic of Living in the World", perfection does not depend on religious revelation (God is rarely mentioned in the book), but depends on human resources and diligence: vigilance, self-control, self-knowledge and other prudent ways.However, the book emphasizes human rationality,

It does not mean to slander religion or be excessively "pessimistic".Proverbs 251: "Be good at using humanity as if the way of God does not exist, and be good at understanding the way of God as if the way of humanity does not exist." In the final analysis, this saying is learned from the founder of the Jesuits, St. Loyola.Looking at the whole book "The Book of Wisdom-Eternal Life Classics", Gracian almost ignores the way of "God", but always keeps Loyola's teachings in his heart, and keeps in mind the Spanish sentence from which Loyola's words are based. As the saying goes: "Pray to God, but also put your head down and work hard." Gracian is referring to God's help and self-help, but it is not explicitly stated.

What is disturbingly "modern" about this book is that it seems to classify the moral minister as a strategist.The general principle of morality, the "hard law" that cannot be changed in ethics, is accommodated in the book to a belief: in order to be perfect, one must know the current affairs and change with the trend.To achieve what Gracian calls wisdom or prudencia, generalities—such as moral ones—must be avoided. "Book of Wisdom-Eternal Life Classics" enjoins us to tell the truth, but we must speak it skillfully and skillfully (210); "The most practical knowledge exists in the disguise." (98) We must "and When you associate with scholars, you should show your knowledge in your conversation; when you associate with saints, your behavior should be noble." (77) A wise man is fickle like Proteus, but he should not insist on fickleness and Cleverly decorated as a south needle.Grassian's extreme discourse on the passage of time, and his advocacy of change and deceit, is really (as an Italian philosopher said) painful because of the fragility and helplessness of human beings.

Nor was Gracian indifferent to the spiritual and material well-being of others.He has repeatedly told us not to associate with fools, but beyond that, his exhortation is very clear: "Say the right thing, do the right thing." (202) "Good things should be done in a way": moderation and restraint , step by step (255). "Love if you want to be loved." In this book and the rest of Gracian's writings, as in his life, "friendship" is a recurring theme, and so is "conversation."As for commentators who often refer to him as "pessimistic", this concept is actually a bit anachronistic.What many of us call "optimism"—the belief that people are basically good and that everything ends well—must have been seen by Gracian as a delusional curse: "Hope is a liar, and it must be controlled with discernment..." (19 ).

Like his contemporaries such as Francis Bacon, Jeremy Taylor, and Francisco de Quevedo, Gracian devoted himself to the cultivation of desengano: a It is a state of completely "dispelling curses and delusion" or abandoning obsessions and delusions. When people reach this state, they can control their hopes and fears, overcome false superficial skills and false expectations, and abandon false secular values. . The Book of Wisdom - The Eternal Classic of Living in the World advocates the restraint of imagination in many places, and teaches people to use various strategies to achieve this kind of sweet and bitter happiness.Having no illusions about people and things in the world is an important aspect of "wisdom".In contrast, the modern concepts of "pessimism" and "optimism" are superficial. However, in the 17th century Spain with social turmoil and political instability, that is, Velasquez and Zurbaran In Spain, optimism is also inappropriate.Gracian, like Guevedo, is aware of the dwindling moral strength of his nation.From time to time we hear a melancholy, truly elegiac lament: "Good character is gone forever, people no longer reciprocate, and few treat others with the courtesy they deserve..." (280) Only good use The best strategy—constantly mindful of our own and others' weaknesses—can propel us toward perfection. "It is more difficult to create a sage in today's world than to create the seven sages in ancient Greece." (1)

What about Gracian's own life, his quest for worldly wisdom?It is not as completely calm and calm as many words in history have said.He was born in 1601 in the Aragonese village of Belmonte, not far from the birthplace of the great Latin satirist Martial.He must have taken pleasure in this coincidence - Gracian's allegorical novel, Ei critic, is one of the most powerful satires in Spain.As a teenager, he studied philosophy and literature in Toledo and Zaragoza, and entered the Jesuit order in 1619 at the age of 18. After that, he served as a military priest, confessor, preacher, and priest for 50 years. Teachers, professors and administrators (dean and vice-president of several Jesuit colleges).He did not hold important public office, but he had frequent acquaintance with public officials, and his long and careful observation of human behavior in peace and war inspired his aphorisms.In his youth, he served as the confessor of the Neapolitan nobleman and governor, Francesco Maria Carafa, and accompanied him to the court several times.In 1646, the worst year of the Catalan rebellion, he served as priest to the royal troops that recaptured the Aragonese city of Lerida from the French.Gracian was the only priest in the army who never fell ill or was captured. He bravely traveled to the front line and mentioned in his letter that he "exhorted and taught every sergeant when he went to war", which he took pride in.Soldiers hailed him as "Father Victory," he said.

Grassian Sheng called friendship a pleasant path to cultivated learning (11).When he uttered these words, he was thinking, no doubt, of those blissful hours he had spent in the salon and library of his friend and protector, Vicencio Juan de Lestanosa.Lastanoza was six years younger, a wealthy man, and one of the most learned of the seventeenth-century Spanish humanists.He invested in the creation of an important repository of literature and culture, a collection of human knowledge that was of utmost importance to Gracian.After Gracian took the oath of practice, he was sent to the Jesuit Academy in Huesca, the ancient city northeast of Zaragoza, for the first time.The college is just a short walk from the Rasta Nosa house post.The Rasta Noza House is actually a marquee "museum" rich in books and manuscripts, paintings (Titian, Dürer, Tintoretti, Ribera), sculptures and classical collections ; Lastanoza once wrote that the house contained "more than eight thousand coins and coats of arms of the Greek and Roman emperors...and two thousand inlaid stones of ancient tomb rings." It is particularly proud of its collection of armour, armor and the botanical garden; the rare flowers, trees and shrubs in the botanical garden are tended by eight French gardeners, several of whom have been doing this for more than half a century.Rastanosa even has a zoo: "Behind the strong bars of the four caves are a tiger, a leopard, a bear and a lion in each. There is also a cage containing two ostriches with great appetites." Guerra Xi'an was granted permission to use the antiquities and cultural treasures of Rasta Nosa, which was a great help to a man who yearned for perfect aesthetic quality and precise taste, striving to "keep everything from being vulgar" (28).Gracian has a good book, also paid for by Lastanoza, and many of the words of caution in The Book of Wisdom—A Timeless Classic of Life may have been tried out on his salon guests.

From the records of the Society of Jesus, we have a glimpse of Gracian's service as priest and administrator.The Gracian in these positions seems less severe than the Gracian who reads and writes in this book.For example, he was condemned in 1637 for being too lenient in dealing with a heterosexual Jesuit.The following year, the Jesuit President ordered from Rome that Father Gracian should be transferred: "...a cross and a burden to his superiors, a source of problems and disturbances...and a gross indiscretion, taking care of himself out of his own right The children of the attendees, and asked for support funds for this child, and in addition, published books under the name of his own brother." The book referred to in the transfer order is his first book, which depicts the ideal leader in an imaginative style (Ei Heroe, 1637; The Hero, 1639).Other works followed, mostly (e.g., The Book of Wisdom, the Eternal Classic of Life) published under the pseudonym of berenzo Gracian and without the sanction of the Jesuits: Ei poliiico, 1640, 1646) ponders the political and moral greatness of King Ferdinand; Arte de ingenio (1642, 1648) on style and allusion in poetry, drawing examples from many classical and Spanish authors: Prudence "(Ei discreto, 1646), the English translation (1730) was named "The complete gen-tleman, or a description of the several qualifications both natural and acquired, that are necessarv to form a great man), in the tradition of Castiglione's courtier. Gracian has been repeatedly warned over the years not to publish his work without permission.He disobeyed the order as before, and the Jesuits were very disturbed. When the third volume (unvolume) of his masterpiece "Master of Criticism", a masterpiece of satirical life, came out, he would be relieved of his Bible teaching chair in Zaragolla, and he would be "exiled" to A small town in the countryside, where I will live forever.Rome also ordered that this person be closely monitored, "observe his hands", "inspect his room at any time", and monitor his paper. If there is a word or phrase in his pen that is not good for the Jesuits, he will be imprisoned, and all paper, pen and ink will be forbidden.The problem is not that his writings are considered heretical, but that, as a Jesuit, he writes so brilliantly about worldly wisdom and political behavior that it is unseemly.But the Jesuits never accused Gracian of violating Catholic teaching.What offended his boss was that he repeatedly refused to obey orders.His attitude of resignation and indifference may also be the reason. "I was forbidden to publish," he wrote in 1653, "and I have no shortage of envious men, but I am patient, eat my lunch and dinner, and sleep as usual." Gracian's enemies took advantage of his rift with his superiors. Contradictions are omnipresent, and the fabricated charges are a bit confusing.They say that Gracian once preached in Valencia and told his audience that he was reading a letter he had just received from hell. He was undoubtedly a difficult man, full of the obstinacy for which the Aragonese were famous, and Jesuit records record his temper: in 1628 he is recorded as "biliosus, melancolicus" (biliosus, melancolicus), in 1651 he was "Colericus, biliosus" (colericus, biliosus), in the year of his death he was "complexio coler-hJ." The author is said to have good intellect (1ngenium bonum), but after 1645, his judgment (judicium), his prudence, and his experience of the world were said to be inferior to normal people, or poor in meaning: "judicium infra mediocritatem "(1651); "judicium mediocre; prudentia non multa; experientia rerum mediocris" (1655). Is what his Jesuit colleagues are telling the truth? His strength may be at a disadvantage. However, time has repaid his justice. His works are still intact, and he himself has won immortality. Even Gracian's style of writing has drawn vengeance, and those who cannot tolerate simplicity have allowed him so little.He was one of the most economical writers of the seventeenth century; a period when European humanists, responding to Justus Lipsius' call for brevity, read Seneca and Tacitus more favorably than Cicero resignation fee.Gracian's style is so habitual that many of them are easily recognizable even when translated into foreign languages: pros and cons and right and wrong; often ellipsis, like to condense meaning with puns and other clever diction; Interval--rare connections (for example, there are often abrupt transitions between aphorisms and comments, and comments themselves often seem to be out of coherence and incomplete).These characteristics are not just the author's peculiarities, but stem from his insight into human nature.The stylistic values ​​reflected between the lines - sharpness, tension, simplicity, subtlety - are the essentials of living wisely, and at Gracian, living is a high art.Aesthetic strategies and moral strategies echo each other.In other words, the relationship between the author and the reader is similar to the relationship between the reader and the people around him.The author moves forward and backward with the readers like a fencing sword, his meaning is stored but not released, his intentions are cleverly disguised, avoiding all the cards in his hand at once, maintaining delay and suspense, and attracting admiration and respect with subtle subtleties: man's oracle that kind of respect. "The inside story that is most important to us," he said somewhat self-consciously, "the prudent man, though he knows it well, always says half and keeps the other half;"(25) "Secrets have a sacred feeling."(160) Gracian does not deal with ordinary readers much, nor does he pursue their favor; he knows that favorability is bad for respect, and familiarity breeds arrogance (177).He does not want his writings and thinking to please the masses (28, 245).He would agree with the great Spanish Barlow in the poet Luis degongora.Gongola defends his work Solitudes with this disparaging statement: To make it difficult for ignorant people to find out, it is a matter of honor to me, and this is what distinguishes learned people; it is the same to write words and write in the style of ignorant people like reading heavenly books, and it is wrong to be a pearl before the swine. However, Gracian's writing is so unapproachable, and this book has always satisfied countless readers. Perhaps this pretending to be alienated is his successful strategy for speaking. "Another tactic is to claim to sell only to the expert, because everyone believes he is an expert, and would like to be one if he wasn't. Never praise the simplicity of the item, it will only make it appear Vulgarity is easy to get, and everyone seeks to be different." (150) Reading Gracian is like reading Gongola, trying to figure out its meaning, and it is a great pleasure to linger on a sentence or two of aphorisms every time. Thoughts twist and turn. "Don't express your thoughts too clearly... To make things most valuable, you have to make them hard to get. If people can't understand what you mean, they will have a higher opinion of you." (253) As for The arrangement of epigrams in the book is not systematic.The Spanish critic Gonzalo Sobejano once said that these aphorisms meet us in the same way as the chaos of life itself, and what is reproduced in the text is really "the chaos and randomness of pure experience" .If the author wants to protect himself, this method is indeed the best method: "It is easy to kill birds that fly in a straight line, but it is difficult to kill birds that change their flight routes." (17) But this does not mean that the organization of the book is chaotic , Gracian adopted a dialectical approach: just like folk proverbs, one warning cancels another warning, or contradicts each other, or complements each other, so Fu observes moral phenomena from multiple perspectives.One segment teaches us how to maneuver with a certain strategy, and the other segment teaches us how to defend against such cunning. As for the simplicity of brushwork, this is not only an aesthetic ideal, but also the author's self-preservation strategy.In a nutshell, you—author and reader alike—are less likely to be found out, to be used as a shield against oneself, to be proven wrong. "Speaking out is like writing a will, and making a testimony: the less words are used, the less disputes." (160) Furthermore: "A beautiful thing is short, and its beauty is doubled." The translator is the preface, why not! There are seven English translations of this book, but the translator only has two of them as reference.Today, the seven translators are listed as follows: Anonymous (Anonymous) 1685; John J. Savage, 1702; Joseph Jacobs 1892; Martin Fischer, 1934; Otto Eisenschiml, 1947; LB Walton, 1953;I occasionally turn to Jacobs' translation, not to resolve problems of meaning, but to decipher Gracian's puns. "You may think that you are sharing Pears (pears), but in fact you are only sharing piedras (stones)." (237) Gracian's words are enough to make the translator feel helpless. pear skin) instead of Piedras, the mastery is great, and it is a joy to see it, pick up the skin and use it, and dare not plunder the beauty. Miguei Romera-NavarrO completed a wonderful commentary based on the only surviving first edition of Gracian's original work (Huesca, 1647). Romera-Navarro foresees that his annotations can provide guidance for future translators, which is impressive.I am also indebted to Harriet Rubin, doubleday editor of great taste, who believes contemporary readers will take this book with them and enjoy it with their hearts. Christopher Moller Vanderbilt University May 1991 (Translated by Peng Huaidong)