Page

Max.

1

ii

character and intellect—Orig. "Genio y ingenio"; Schop. "Herz und Kopf"; Eng. I. "Wit and a Genius." The first section of El Discreto has the same title.

two poles—Orig. "los dos exes del lucimiento de prendas"; M.G.D. "The two axes of the brilliance of our accomplishments."

2

iii

when you explain; cf. ccliii.

the Divine way; cf. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing," Prov. xxv. 2.

3

v

Not he that adorns—Orig. "No hace el númen el que lo dora sino el que lo adora"; Schop. "Den Götzen macht nicht der Vergolder sondern der Anbeter."

golden platter—Orig. "del oro al lodo"; lit. from the gold to the mire.

vi

A Man; from El Discreto.

5

ix

strata—so Schop. "Schichten"; Orig. "venas donde pasa."

7

xiii

Second Thoughts—Orig. "intencion segunda." The expression and idea is derived from scholastic logic. Terms of second intention, i.e. logical technical terms, are doubly abstract, being abstractions of terms of first intention.

warfare against malice—Orig. "milicia . . . contra la malicia."

8

xiv

accident—Orig. "circumstancia"; again a scholastic term referring to the modes of real being.

9

joy in life; cf. Emerson: "Beautiful behaviour is the finest of the fine arts."

xv

make use of the wise—"Make friends of the wise," said the Seven Sages, ap. Stobaeus, Flor. iii. 80.

great thing to know—Orig. "Ay mucho que saber y es poco el vivir"; Schop. takes it as a variant of Hippocrates' maxim, "Art is long," etc., and renders "Das Wissen ist lang, das Leben kurz." See, however, ccxlvii.

10

xvi

Knowledge without sense—"Ciencia sin seso locura doble"; cf. Span. prov. "Ciencia es Locura si buen seso no la cura."

xvii

impulse—Orig. "intencion," a reference to xiii, where see Note.

11

xviii

Application and Ability. Galton, Hereditary Genius, p. 38, adds zeal or energy.

xix

Arouse, etc.; from El Heroe, § 16.

12

xx

The sage has one advantage. A favourite maxim of Schopenhauer, quoted by him in his Wille in d. Natur, 1836, p. 34, and written on his own copy of Die Welt als Wille, obviously applying it to himself. (See Grisebach, Edita and Inedita, p. 104.)

14

xxiii

soon finds out—Orig. "para luego y aun repara."

15

xxv

Know how, etc.—Orig. "Been entendedor"; from El Discreto. Eng. I. "A good Pryer"; Eng. II. "A good Understanding." The reference is to the Span. prov. "A buen entendedor pocas palabras," Don Quixote, ii. cc. 37, 60. Sly uses the later half in Taming of Shrew Induction, "Therefore pocas palabras, let the world slide, sessa!"

16

xxvii

giants are real dwarfs; cf. Bacon's apophthegm, "Nature did never put her jewels in garrets."

try the brawn. A slight embellishment. Orig. "para exercitar antes los braços que los ingenios."

xxviii

great and wise—Phocion; ap. Plutarch, Reg. et Imp. Apophthegm. Phocion, 4.

17

chameleons of popularity; cf. ccxcv.

xxix

Many praise it; cf. "Probitas laudatur et alget," Juv. Sat. i. 74.

18

xxxi

Select the Lucky. Quoted by Addison in Spectator, No. 293. The Rothschilds are said to act on this principle in their business relations.

Never open; cf. ccliv.

19

win the odd trick—Orig. merely "hallan con la ventura."

19

xxxii

Those make friends; cf. xl, cxi.

xxxiii

One is not obliged; cf. cclx.

20

xxxv

All fools; cf. Stevenson, Kidnapped, c. xiv. as: "I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of them; and I believe they both got paid in the end; but the fools first."

21

xxxvi

favours the bold; cf. Span. prov. "Al hombre osado la Fortuna lada la mano."

22

xxxvii

Keep a Store of Sarcasms, etc.—Eng. I. and II. "To guess at the meaning of the little Hints that are given us by the bye, and to know how to make the best of them."

24

xl

From El Heroe, § 12.

25

xliii

From El Discreto, "Hombre juizio."

26

xliv

for mystery and for use—Orig. "por lo culto y por lo ventojoso."

28

xlvii

One affair—Orig. has a play upon "empeño" and "despeño," which I have tried to reproduce.

29

xlviii

no use boring—Orig. "No ay en estos donde parar ó todo para."

xlix

From El Discreto, c. xviii.

30

li

Know how, etc.; from El Discreto, c. ix.

31

liii

From El Discreto, c. xx.

Festina lente—Orig. "Correr á espacio." This is not given in Dielitz' elaborate work on Wahl-und Denksprüche, Gorlitz, 1884, so I suspect it was Gracian's version of Augustus' motto, σπεῦδε βραχέως, generally translated Festina lente.

32

lv

Wait; from El Discreto, c. iii, mainly from the end. It is called an Allegoria.

32

lv

He spake. Charles V. according to El Discreto, I.e. Schop. attributes the saying to Philip II.

33

lvi

Have Presence of Mind; from El Discreto, c. xiv.

natures of Antiperistasis. The energy aroused by opposition. Johnson gives example from Cowley (M.G.D.) It occurs also in Bacon (Colours, vii.) and Browne (Rel. Med. II. x.) Macaulay also uses it in his essay on Bacon (Oxford Diet.)

work best in an emergency. So Galton, Hereditary Genius, p. 48, who speaks of men "formed to shine under exceptional circumstances," as in the Indian Mutiny.

lvii

Quickly done; cf. Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, "Good and quickly seldom meet."

34

lix

Finish off well; from El Discreto, c. xi.

think of the finish; cf. lxvi.

Few in life—Orig. "Que son raros los deseados."

35

warmly as—Orig. "lo que se muesta de cumplida con los que vienen de descortes con los que van." M.G.D. "Seldom does fortune conduct a parting guest to the threshold."

lx

by the helm of state. So Schop. "Solche Leute verdienen am Staatsruder zu stehen, sei es zur Lenkung oder zum Rath"; Orig. "Merecen estos la asistencia al gobernarle ó para exercicio ó para consejo."

lxi

To Excel; from El Heroe, p. vi.

36

lxii

Use good Instruments. Chap. iii. of Sir H. Taylor's The Statesman is entitled "A Statesman's most pregnant Function lies in the Choice and Use of Instruments."

36

lxii

all the blame; cf. Sir A. Helps's Essays in Intervals of Business (Macmillan, 1890), p. 44: "You have to choose persons for whose faults you are to be punished, to whom you are to be the whipping boy."

lxiii

To be the First; from El Heroe, primor vii.

37

lxv

Elevated Taste; from El Heroe, primor v. Eng. II. "The Fine Taste," and so quoted by Addison, Spectator, No. 40n.

38

lxvi

See that Things end well; cf. lix.

A good end gilds. Here the Jesuit speaks.

39

lxvii

Prefer Callings "en Evidence"; from El Heroe, primor viii.

kings of Aragon. Gracian was himself an Aragonese.

40

lxix

Do not give way, etc.; from El Discreto, c. xiii.

45

lxxi

Do not Vacillate; from El Discreto, c. vi.

45

lxxvi

Do not always be Jesting; from El Discreto, c. ix.

A continual jest—Orig. "No ay mayor desayre que el continuo donayre."

lxxvii

Be all Things to all Men. A touch of Gracian's training as Jesuit.

46

universal genius—Orig. "varon universal de ingenio en noticias y de genio en gustos" cf. ii.

lxxix

Join in the fun; cf. cclxxv.

48

lxxxi

mediocrity that's new; cf. cclxix.

Change the scene; cf. cxcviii.

lxxxii

A sage—Aristotle.

49

lxxxiii

leave your cloak—an image taken from the bull-fight, when the matador allows the bull to rush at his cloak held sideways. Gracian uses the same image in El Criticon, i. 3.

lxxxiv blade which cuts; cf. ccxxiv.

50

lxxxv

Manille. Schop. suggests that this is the Manillio of Hombre, the second best trump (cf. Pope, Rape of Lock, iii. 51). But there is a game mentioned by Littré s.v., which is obviously the one referred to by Gracian. In this the nine of diamonds, called Manille, can be made any value the player wishes. Manille thus means a combination of a jack of all Trades and a universal drudge.

51

lxxxvii

Culture and Elegance; from El Discreto, c. xvii.

53

xc

The Secret; cf. Fuller, "He lives long who lives well."

have not the will. So, it is said, negroes and savages die in circumstances where Europeans keep alive simply because they have "the will to live, the competence to be."

54

xcii

an ounce of wisdom—Orig. "Mas vale un grano de cordura que arrobas de sutileza."

55

xciv

Keep the extent, etc.; from El Heroe, i.

xcv

single cast; cf. clxxxv.

xcvi

The highest Discretion—Orig. "la gran sinderesis."

56

xcviii

Write your Intentions in Cypher; from El Heroe, ii.

57

adopt the policy—Orig. "A linces de discurso gibias de interioridad," I have omitted the lynxes, who have little to do with cuttle-fish (pl. of Sp. jibia).

xcix

Things pass, etc. A favourite expression of Gracian's; cf. cxxx, cxlvi; cf. also the German proverb, "Was scheint, das gilt."

58

ci

What one pursues—Orig. "Lo que este sigue, el otro persigue."

59

cii

find their proper place—Orig. "No caben en si porque no cabe en ellos la suerte."

60

cv

gains by courtesy—Orig. "gana por lo cortés lo que pierde por lo corta."

63

cix

prison—Orig. "galera," a sort of Bridewell.

64

cxi

way to gain friendly feelings; cf. xxxii, xl.

65

cxii

Service Road—Orig. "Es grande el rodeo de solos los meritos sino se ayudan del favor."

69

cxix

to be esteemed—Orig. "el que quiere hacer casa hace caso."

71

cxxii

Distinction; from El Discreto, c. ii.

73

cxxvi

wise try to hide; cf. Prov. xii. 16 "A fool's vexation is speedily known, but the prudent man concealeth shame."

live chastely—Orig. "Si no es uno casto, sea cauto"; Schop. turns neatly into Latin, caute nisi caste.

74

learn to forget; cf. cclxii.

cxxvii

Grace in Everything; from El Heroe, c. xiii.

75

cxxix

Never complain. "I make it a point never to complain," Mr. Disraeli once said in the House; cf. cxlv.

76

cxxx

Even the Right; cf. xcix.

things are judged by their rackets—Orig. merely "juzganse las cosas por fuera."

77

cxxxiii

Better Mad, etc.; cf. "In action wisdom goes by majorities," from "The Pilgrim's Scrip" in Richard Feverel.

78

the aphorism; from Aristotle, Pol. i. s; also Heraclitus; cf. Grisebach, Schopenhauer's Inedita, 78. Also Bacon, Essays.

80

cxxxvii

resembles the brute beast. See preceding note.

88

cxlvii

the sage said—Socrates.

90

cli

The pillow is a silent; quoted by Morley, Aphorisms.

90

clii

The more he does—Orig. "Tanto por mas, quanta por menos." Schop. takes it differently: "Sei es dadurch lass er über uns oder class er unter uns stehe."

the cunning Fabula—Martial, Epigr. viii. 79.

91

cliii

Beware of entering. The great Jewish teacher Hillel gave braver advice: "'Where there is no man, dare to be a man" (Ethics of the Fathers).

93

clv

synteresis; defined in Doctor and Student, Dial. I. ch. xiv., as: "The natural power of the soul set in the highest part thereof, moving it and stirring it to good and abhorring evil"; cf. Milton, Common-place Book, ed. Horwood, § 79; and cf. Saunder, transl. of Schopenhauer, Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit, c. v. § 34.

"wise on horseback"; cf. "Nadie es cuerdo á caballo," Span. prov. quoted by Schop.

clvi

Only after, etc.—Orig. "Que lo han de ser á examen de la discretion y á prueba de la fortuna, graduados no solo de la voluntad sino del entendimiento."

Intelligence brings friends; cf. Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll: "It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friends ready made at the hands of opportunity."

95

clviii

Being in general; the scholastic maxim running "Quodlibet ens est unum, verum, bonum."

clix

to put up with things; ἀνέχεσθαι καὶ ἀπέχεσθαι, the great Epicurean maxim.

96

clx

Be careful in Speaking; cf. Prov. xxix. 20. "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words there is more hope of a fool than of him."

97

clxii

enough to despise them; cf. ccv.

who speaks well. "It's poor foolishness," says Adam Bede, "to run down your enemies", cf. Goethe.

98

clxiv

Throw Straws—Orig. "Echar al ayre algunas cosas" merely refers to feigned blows; cf. xiii.

99

clxv

poisoned arrows; rather an embellishment on the orig., which has merely "pero no mala (guerra)."

100

clxvi

polite deceit; cf. cxci.

104

clxxiii

Motes offend them—Orig. "Ofendenla las motas que no son menester yá notas."

the Amant is half adamant. This seems the only way of retaining the "conceit" and jingle of the orig.: "La condition del Amante tiene la mitad de diamante en el durar y en el resistir."

105

clxxv

Only Truth—profit; omitted by Schop.

109

clxxxii

A Grain of Boldness; cf. the opening of Bacon's Essay "Of Boldnesse," and Mrs. Poyser's aphorism, "It's them as take advantage that get advantage in this world, I think."

112

clxxxvii

it is the privilege; cf. cclxxxvi.

Have some one; cf. Bacon, "Of Envy": "The wiser Sort of Great Persons bring in ever upon the Stage some Body upon whom to derive the Envy that would come upon themselves."

115

cxc

The unlucky thinks—Orig. has a play upon the words "suerte" and "muerte."

cxci

Theirs is the Bank of Elegance. I have no excuse for this. Orig. simply "Hacen precio con la honra."

cxcii

no greater perversity—Orig. "No ay mayor desproposito que tomar lo todo de proposito."

116

cxciii

Be intent—Orig. "Al intendido un buen entendedor."

their chestnuts—Orig. simply "Sacar del fuego el provecho ageno."

117

cxcvi

ruling Star. There are some grounds for believing that great adventurers, like Napoleon, have a subjective star, hallucinatory of course, which appears to them at moments of great excitement; cf. Gallon, Human Faculty, 175-176.

119

cxcviii

native land a stepmother; cf. contra Galton, Hered. Gen., 360 "As a rule the very ablest men are strongly disinclined to emigrate," and Prov. xxvii. 8.

120

cc

Leave Something; cf. lxxxii, ccxcix.

The body must respire—Orig. "Espira el cuerpo y anhela el espiritu."

121

ccii

Former are feminine; cf. Span. prov. "Palabras hembras son hechos machos." Howell, Fam. Letters, quotes the saying as Italian; cf. my edition, p. 270 and n. Herbert also gives it in his Jacula Prudentum.

Eminent deeds endure. Schop. has characteristically expressed his dissent by annotating his own copy of the Oráculo at this point with a pithy "vale el contrario."

122

cciv

Attempt easy Tasks as if they were difficult. Approved by Mr. Morley, Aphorisms.

133

ccxx

If you cannot, etc. There may be here a reference to Lysander's saying in Plutarch: "If the lion's skin [of Hercules] is not long enough, we must stitch on to it a fox's skin.

133

ccxxi

They are always on the point of some stupidity—omitted by Schop.

134

meet with them easily—Orig. "Encuentranse con gran facilidad y rompen con infelicidad."

ccxxii

Reserve is proof; cf. clxxix.

135

ccxxiii

more defects—so Orig. "Que son mas defectos que diferencias."

ccxxiv

taken by the blade; cf. lxxxiv.

136

ccxxv

Know your chief Fault; cf. xxxiv.

137

ccxxvii

new casks; cf. the Span. prov. "A la vasija nueva dura el resabio."

143

ccxxxvii

share pears—Orig. "Pensará partir peras y partirá piedras." Schop. "Man glaubt Kirschen mit ihnen zu essen, wird aber nur die steine erhalten."

144

ccxxxviii

communicates his secret; cf. Span. prov. "A quien dizes poridad á esse tu das la liberdad," neither tell secrets nor listen to them—Eng. I. puts it rather neatly: "Tis a maxim for secrets Neither to hear them nor to tell them"; cf. the maxim of the Seven Sages, ap. Stobaeus, Flor. iii. 80: "Tell none a secret."

ccxxxviii

something wanting; cf. xxxiv, ccxxv.

145

ccxl

Speak to each; cf. Prov. xxvi. 5, "Answer a fool according to his folly."

146

ccxlii

Everything stops—Orig. "Todo para en parar." Schop. omits.

149

ccxlvi

To excuse oneself—Orig. "El escusarse antes de ocasion es culparse"; cf. Fr. prov. "Qui s’excuse s’accuse."

150

ccli

Use human Means, etc.; cf. "Human wit ought to be exhausted before we presume to invoke Divine interposition" (B. Disraeli, Tancred).

152

cclii

berth and burthen—Orig. "Renuncie el cargo con la carga." The story goes that an old woman met Hadrian with a petition. He repulsed her, saying he had no time. "Then give up your berth," retorted the beldam. Hadrian recognised the justice of the rebuke and decided the petition on the spot.

slaves of all; cf. "Men in great Place are thrice servants" (Bacon, Essay "Of Great Place"). There is something like this in El Criticon, i. 7.

ccliii

Do not Explain overmuch; cf. "Let the wise be warned against too great readiness of explanation" (G. Eliot, Middlemarch).

do not esteem what they understand; cf.—

"Was man nicht weiss, das eben brauchte man,
Und was man weiss kann man nicht brauchen."
GOETHE, Faust, Th. I.

153

venerate the unknown; cf. "Omne ignotum pro magnifico."

ccliv

they never come alone; cf. Span. prov. ap. Don Quixote, i. 28, "Un mal llama á otro," and Shakespeare, "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions," Hamlet, iv. 5.

Do not wake Misfortune; cf. Span. prov. "Quando la mala Fortuna se duerme, nadie la despierte."

One slip is a little thing; cf. Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll.

158

cclxii

The things we remember best are those better forgotten.—quoted by Mr. Morley in Aphorisms.

159

cclxiv

Have no careless Days. D’Artagnan acts on this principle in keeping always on guard over the king during journeys. Vicomte de Bragelonne, c. xii.

160

cclxv

The Great Captain—Orig. "El gran Capitan," a reference to Gonsalvo de Cordova (1443-1515), who commanded the Spanish land forces against Chas. VIII. in Italy, and received his title "el gran Capitan" July 1496.

161

cclxvii

Silken Words. Parysatis, mother of the younger Cyrus, advised one who was about to have an audience with a king to use words wrapped in fine linen; cf. Paley, Greek Wit, i. No. 152.

mouth full of sugar; cf. contra Spurgeon's John Ploughman's Talk, "Do not be all sugar, or the world will suck you down."

cclxviii

Wise does at once; cf. Span. prov. "Lo que hace el loco á la postre, hace sabio al principio (quoted by Trench, Proverbs⁵, 116).

163

cclxxi

Let little knowledge—Orig. "A poco saber camino real."

164

cclxxiii

If a man laughs always—Orig. "Conosca al que siempre rie por falto y al que nunca por falso."

166

cclxxvi

At twenty; cf. the ages in Ethics of the Jewish Fathers, ed. C. Taylor, p. 111; L. Löw, Die Lebensalter, p. 22 and n.; and Shakespeare in As You Like It.

cclxxvii

From El Discreto, c. xii.

168

cclxxix

comes from cunning; cf. ccxiii.

169

cclxxxi

you cannot make a meal—Orig. "Porque regueldos de aristas no alientan." Schop. omits.

170

cclxxxii

ridiculous

result—Orig. "Ridiculo parto de los mantes," a reference to Horace's "Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus."

171

cclxxxv

Never die—Schop. adds to his copy "y mucho menos de necedad y ruindad agena."

172

cclxxxvi

you can do more good; cf. clxxxvii; cf. "Power to doe good is the true and lawfull end of Aspiring" (Bacon, "Of Great Place").

173

cclxxxviii

steering by the wind. The derangement of metaphors is mine; orig. has simply "En portarse à la ocasion."

174

ccxci

The care of the wise, etc.—Orig. "Compita la atencion del juyzioso can la detencion del recatado."

176

ccxcv

From El Discreto, c. xix.

177

ccxcvi

Noble qualities make noblemen—Orig. "Las primeras hazen los primeros hombres."

179

ccc

Three HHH's—Orig. "Tres eses hazen dichoso, Santo, Sano y Sabio." Schop. "Drei Dinge die in Spanischen mit einem S anfangen machen glücklich —Heiligkeit, Gesundheit, and Weisheit." M.G.D. "Three SSS render a man happy, Sanctity, Soundness of body, and Sageness."