巴尔塔沙•葛拉西安(Baltasar Gracian)，17世纪西班牙、思想家、耶稣会教士。1601年出生于西班牙的贝尔蒙特村。1619年，进入耶稣会见习修行，此后历任军中神父、告解神父、宣教师、教授及行政人员等职。1637年，其处女作《英雄》（El heroe）问世，旋即引起轰动；1640年，讨论领袖素质的《政治家》(El politico)出版；1643年，分析诗歌的《诗之才艺》(Agudeza y arte de ingenio)出版；1647年，巅峰之作《智慧书》（Oraculo）问世。 葛拉西安因其笔锋犀利、讥讽政治，被耶稣会警告，未获批准不得出版作品。1651年，寓言小说《批评家》(El ctitican)问世。为此，他被耶稣会解除了教席,放逐至一乡下小镇，直至1658年终老于此。 葛拉西安一生坎坷，他的思想却对许多欧洲著名道德伦理学家以及德国17－18世纪的宫廷文学和19世纪的哲学产生了重要的影响。译者序：历经时光淘洗而不衰的处世经典/1 1．万物已近极致/3 Everything is at its acme 2．品性与智慧/3 Character and intellect 3．做事时常留有悬念/3 Keep matters for a time in suspense 4．有识亦应有胆/5 Knowledge and courage 5．让别人依赖你/5 Create a feeling of dependence 6．至善至美的境界/7 A man at his highest point 7．不要比上司更耀眼/9 Avoid victories over superiors 8．不被激情左右/11 To be without passions 9．避免土生土长的缺陷/11 Avoid the faults of your nation 10．财富与名望/13 Fortune and fame 11．择师而交/13 Cultivate those who can teach you 12．自然和人工：原料与加工/15 Nature and art 13．有时三思而行，有时立下决断/15 Act sometimes on second thoughts, sometimes on first impulse 14．事物本身及做事的方法/19 The thing itself and the way it is done 15．广纳贤人/19 Keep ministering spirits 16．学识和善心/21 Knowledge and good intentions 17．变换你的行为模式/21 Vary the mode of action 18．能力和努力/23 Application and ability 19．事前不要让人期望过高/25 Arouse no exaggerated expectations on entering 20．生逢其时的人/27 A man of the age 21．幸运之道/27 The art of being lucky 22．学以致用/29 A man of knowledge to the point 23．没有瑕疵/29 Be spotless 24．控制自己的幻想/31 Keep the imagination under control 25．善于领会弦外之音/31 Know how to take a hint 26．揪出他人的把柄/33 Find out each man’s thumbscrew 27．求精深重于求广博/33 Prize intensity more than extent 28．超凡脱俗/35 Common in nothing 29．刚直的人/35 A man of rectitude 30．不做毁誉之事/37 Have naught to do with occupations of ill-repute 31．学会趋利避害/39 Select the lucky and avoid the unlucky 32．因善行而闻名/39 Have the reputation of being gracious 33．知道如何逃避/41 Know how to withdraw 34．了解自己的最强项/41 Know your strongest point 35．遇事斟酌，遇要事则更要斟酌/43 Think over things, most over the most important 36．进退之际，了解时运/45 In acting or refraining, weigh your luck 37．准备一些讥诮话，并善加利用/45 Keep a store of sarcasms, and know how to use them 38．急流勇退/47 Leave your luck while winning 39．了解事物成熟的时机，并善加利用/49 Recognize when things are ripe, and then enjoy them 40．获得人们的好感/49 Gain the goodwill of people 41．切勿言过其实/51 Never exaggerate 42．天生为王/53 Born to wommand 43．心随精英，口随大众/53 Think with the few and speak with the many 44．英雄相惜/55 Sympathy with great minds 45．狡猾可以运用，但不能滥用/57 Use, but do not abuse, cunning 46．控制你的反感情绪/57 Master your antipathies 47．避免“为荣誉而决斗”/59 Avoid “affairs of honour” 48．做一个有深度的人至关重要/59 So much depends on being a person of depth 49．明察善断/61 Observation and judgment 50．不失自尊/61 Never lose self-respect 51．选择有道/63 Know how to choose well 52．从不慌乱/63 Never be put out 53．聪明且勤奋/65 Be diligent and intelligent 54．懂得展示你的勇气/65 Know how to show your teeth 55．善于等待/67 Wait 56．随机应变/67 Have presence of mind 57．慢且稳/69 Be slow and Sure 58．恰当展现自己/69 Adapt yourself to your company 59．要有完美的收场/71 Finish off well 60．判断准确/71 A sound judgment 61．卓越之处求卓越/73 To excel in what is excellent 62．善其事必先利其器/73 Use good instruments 63．抢先为上/75 To be the first of the kind is an excellence 64．远离烦恼/77 Avoid worry 65．培养高雅的品味/77 Elevated taste 66．使结局完美/79 See that things end well 67．选择能够获得殊荣的行业/81 Choose an occupation that wins distinction 68．点拨其心智，胜于助其回忆/81 It is better to help with intelligence than with memory 69．不要冲动行事/83 Do not give way to every common impulse 70．学会拒绝/85 Know how to refuse 71．不要左右摇摆/87 Do not vacillate 72．要当机立断/87 Be resolute 73．安然退避/89 Utilize slips 74．与人为善/89 Do not be unsociable 75．选择一位英雄作为偶像/91 Choose a heroic ideal 76．不要总开玩笑/93 Do not always be jesting 77．做人须八面玲珑/93 Be all things to all men 78．做事有道/95 The art of undertaking things 79．轻松快活的个性/95 A genial disposition 80．获取信息要谨慎/97 Take care to get information 81．勇于推陈出新/97 Renew your brilliance 82．凡事无论好与坏，不要走极端/99 Drain nothing to the dregs, neither good nor ill 83．容许自己有无伤大雅之过/99 Allow yourself some venial fault 84．善用对手/101 Make use of your enemies 85．不做无所不知之人/103 Do not be a wild card 86．预防流言蜚语/103 Prevent scandal 87．文明和高雅/105 Culture and elegance 88．举止高贵大方/107 Let your behaviour be fine and noble 89．了解自己/107 Know yourself 90．长寿的秘密/109 The secret of long life 91．对做某事审慎与否若有疑虑，就别着手去做/109 Never set to work at anything if you have any doubts of its prudence 92．要有超凡的智慧/111 Transcendent wisdom 93．多才多艺/111 Versatility 94．让你的才能高深莫测/113 Keep the extent of your abilities unknown 95．让人们保持对你的期望/113 Keep expectation alive 96．至高无上的辨别力/113 The highest discretion 97．赢得并维护美名/115 Obtain and preserve a reputation 98．掩饰你的意图/115 Write your intentions in cypher 99．本质与表象/117 Reality and appearance 100．做一个清醒的人，智慧的信徒，贤能的臣子/117 Be a man without illusions, a wise christian, a philosophic courtier 101．世上的一半人嘲笑另一半人，其实他们都是蠢人/119 One half of the world laughs at the other, and fools are they all 102．天降大福需有大心胸消受/119 Be able to stomach big slices of luck 103．让每人都保有尊严/121 Let each keep up his dignity 104．明确不同工作的要求/123 Know the demands of different occupations 105．勿遭人烦/123 Don’t be a bore 106．勿炫耀你的地位/125 Do not parade your position 107．勿自鸣得意/127 Show no self-satisfaction 108．与人同行是成为伟人的捷径/129 The path to greatness is along with others 109．不要吹毛求疵/129 Be not censorious 110．不要坐以待毙/131 Do not wait till you are a sinking sun 111．赢得朋友/131 Have friends 112．博取他人的好感/133 Gain good-will 113．未雨绸缪/135 In prosperity prepare for adversity 114．避免与人相争/135 Never compete 115．习惯熟人的缺点/137 Get used to the failings of your familiars 116．只和可敬之人交往/137 Only act with honourable men 117．决不谈论自己/139 Never talk about yourself 118．要赢得谦恭有礼的名声/139 Acquire the reputation of courtesy 119．避免惹人厌烦/141 Avoid becoming disliked 120．生活讲求实际/143 Live practically 121．不要小题大做/145 Do not make a business of what is no business 122．言行应有威信/145 Distinction in speech and action 123．避免矫揉造作/147 Avoid affectation 124．要被他人想念/147 Get yourself missed 125．不要成为记录簿/149 Do not be a black list 126．愚蠢并非做了蠢事，而在于做后不知掩饰/151 Folly consists not in committing folly, but in not hiding it when committed 127．凡是从容优雅/151 Grace in everything 128．要有高远的志向/153 Highmindedness 129．从不抱怨/153 Never complain 130．要干，且要让人看见/155 Do and be seen doing 131．慷慨大度/157 Nobility of feeling 132．修正自己的判断/157 Revise your judgments 133．宁可同醉，而不独醒/159 Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone 134．加倍储存你的资源/159 Double your resources 135．不要滋长唱反调的习气/161 Do not nourish the spirit of contradiction 136．抓住事情关键/163 Post yourself in the centre of things 137．圣人自足/163 The sage should be self-sufficing 138．任其自然的艺术/165 The art of letting things alone 139．冷静面对倒霉的日子/165 Recognize unlucky days 140．一眼看到事物好的一面/167 Find the good in a thing at once 141．不要只倾听自己的声音/169 Do not listen to yourself 142．当对手先站在正确的一方时,你不能固执地站在错误的一方/171 Never from obstinacy take the wrong side because your opponent has anticipated you in taking the right one 143．别为免俗而玩弄诡辩之术/173 Never become paradoxical in order to avoid the trite 144．开始于他人，受用于自己/173 Begin with another’s to end with your own 145．藏好你受伤的手指/175 Do not show your wounded finger 146．透过现象看本质/177 Look into the interior of things 147．采纳他人的建议/177 Do not be inaccessible 148．掌握谈话的艺术/179 Have the art of conversation 149．懂得推罪于人/181 Know how to put off ills on others 150．推销得法/181 Know how to get your price for things 151．高瞻远瞩/183 Think beforehand 152．不与令自己黯然失色之人为伍/185 Never have a companion who casts you in the shade 153．不要去填补前人留下的巨大空缺/185 Beware of entering where there is a great gap to be filled 154．不轻易相信，也不轻易喜欢/187 Do not believe, or like, lightly 155．掌控激情的艺术/189 The art of mastering your passions 156．选择你的朋友/189 Select your friends 157．识人别出错/191 Do not make mistakes about character 158．善用朋友/193 Make use of your friends 159．忍受愚蠢/195 Put up with fools 160．说话要谨慎/195 Be careful in speaking 161．认清自身喜爱的缺点/197 Know your pet faults 162．如何战胜对手和诽谤者/197 How to triumph over rivals and detractors 163．决不因同情而卷入他人的不幸/199 Never, from sympathy with the unfortunate, involve yourself in his fate 164．投石问路/201 Throw straws in the air 165．斗争也要讲体面/201 Wage war honourably 166．分辨善言者与善行者/203 Distinguish the man of words from the man of deeds 167．知道怎样依靠自己/203 Know how to take your own part 168．不要沦为愚蠢的怪物/205 Do not indulge in the eccentricities of folly 169．多加小心，避免万一失手胜过百发百中/207 Be more careful not to miss once than to hit a hundred times 170．凡事有所保留/207 In all things keep something in reserve 171．不要滥用人情/209 Do not waste influence 172．决不与一无所有者争斗/209 Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose 173．与人相交，不要像玻璃般易碎，朋友间尤其如此/211 Do not be glass in intercourse, still less in friendship 174．不要活在匆忙中/213 Do not live in a hurry 175．做个实在的人/213 A solid man 176．自知或从知者处知/215 Have knowledge, or know those that have knowledge 177．避免与人太亲近/217 Avoid familiarities in intercourse 178．信赖你的内心/217 Trust your heart 179．缄默是才能的标志/219 Reticence is the seal of capacity 180．决不被敌人误导/221 Never be guided by what your enemy has done …… …… 295．若未奏效，不要邀功/359 Do not affect what you have not effected 296．高贵的品质/361 Noble qualities 297．行动总如处于监视中/361 Always act as if your acts were seen 298．可造就非凡之人的三大要素/363 Three things go to a prodigy 299．让人有饥饿感/363 Leave off hungry 300．总而言之，做一位圣徒/365 In one word, be a saint
