When reading again the poem The Just by Jorge Luis Borges, I paused at the line “He who discovers with pleasure an etymology,” and my memory, like Proust’s madeleine, took me back to the bench in Campo Grande, refuge of my adolescent readings, among the thick carpet of leaves and the declamatory song of the peacocks.
On my bench, I always chose the same one, I read The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence by Baltasar Gracián. It was for a school assignment on the meaning of certain aphorisms and words indicated by the teacher.
Reading it again, I was surprised by how relevant it remains in our times. It was published in 1647 in Huesca. I invite you to share some aphorisms that are quite fitting regarding conduct and ethical value as applied to our consulting profession.
I have kept the number of each selected aphorism in case you wish to explore them further by consulting the book.
2. Genius and Wit: Genius and wit — the two axes that show off one’s gifts. One without the other means only half happiness.
11. Deal with those from whom you can learn. Let friendly interaction be a school of learning, and conversation, a cultured education; a way to make friends.
14. Reality and manner. Substance is not enough; circumstance is also required.
16. Knowledge with right intention. They ensure fruitful success.
19. Do not enter with excessive expectation. Ordinary disappointment follows everything overly praised beforehand; never reach beyond what was imagined. Truth can never equal imagination, for feigning perfection is easy, but achieving it is very difficult.
24. Temper imagination. Sometimes by correcting it; other times by helping it — that is the key to happiness and even the balance of sanity.
25. A good understander. It used to be an art of arts to reason; now it is not enough — one must also guess, especially in disillusionment.
26. Find everyone’s weak spot. It is the art of moving wills; it relies more on skill than resolution: knowing where to approach each person.
27. Value quality over quantity. Perfection lies not in amount but in excellence. Some value little what is of great worth and much what matters little, always weighing things backward.
41. Never exaggerate. A great matter of attention: do not speak in superlatives, both to avoid offending truth and to preserve one’s sound judgment.
53. Diligent and intelligent. Diligence swiftly executes what intelligence thoroughly plans.
57. The well-thought are safer. Done too quickly, though well, is soon undone; what is to last for eternity must take another eternity to make.
60. Sound judgment. Some are born prudent; they enter life with the advantage of natural discernment and thus have half the path to success already walked.
61. Excellence in the best. A great singularity among a plurality of perfections.
68. Give understanding. It is a finer gift than giving memory, for one must sometimes remind and other times warn.
72. A man of resolution. Bad execution is less harmful than indecision.
74. Do not be unapproachable. In the most populated places dwell the true beasts. Inaccessibility is the vice of those ignorant of themselves, who change temper with honor.
80. Pay attention when gathering information. We live mostly on information. What we see is little; we live by others’ faith.
87. Culture and refinement. Man is born barbaric; he redeems himself from beastliness through cultivation. Culture makes us human.
99. Reality and appearance. Things are judged not for what they are, but for what they seem.
105. Do not be tiresome. A man of business is often tedious — as is a man of words.
119. Do not make yourself disliked. Do not provoke aversion; even without wanting it, it comes forward on its own.
121. Do not make business out of non-business. Just as some make everything a story, others make everything a business.
122. Nobility in speech and action. Nobility in speech and action earns space everywhere and wins respect in advance.
130. Do and appear to do. Things are judged not for what they are, but for what they seem.
132. Use reconsideration. Appealing to review brings safety, especially where satisfaction is not evident; taking time, either to grant or to improve — new reasons often arise to confirm and strengthen judgment.
136. Get a good grasp of matters. Take the pulse of business quickly. Many wander through the branches of useless reasoning or the leaves of tiring verbosity without reaching the substance of the case.
141. Do not listen only to yourself. Pleasing oneself is of little use if others are not pleased, and common disdain often punishes private satisfaction.
142. Never stubbornly follow the worse course. Never follow the worse side out of obstinacy just because the opposite chose the better one first.
147. Do not be inaccessible. No one is so perfect as to never need advice.
148. Master the art of conversation. It is where one shows oneself to be truly human.
150. Know how to sell your things. Their intrinsic goodness is not enough, for not everyone bites into the substance or looks inside. Most go where others go, simply because others go there.
151. Think ahead. Today for tomorrow, and even for many days ahead.
152. Never keep company with someone who can outshine you. As much for more as for less.
155. Art in passion. If possible, let prudent reflection prevent the vulgarity of impulse. It will not be difficult for the prudent person.
164. Air some ideas. To test their reception, to see how they are received — especially those suspected of being right or pleasing.
166. Distinguish the man of words from the man of deeds. A vital distinction, as with that between friend and mere acquaintance, or between person and position — they differ greatly.
169. Pay more attention to avoiding one mistake than to making a hundred right choices. No one looks at the shining Sun, yet all notice it eclipsed.
176. Know, or listen to those who know. One cannot live without understanding, whether one’s own or borrowed; yet many are unaware they do not know, and others think they know when they do not.
181. Without lying, do not tell all the truths. Nothing requires more tact than truth, for it is like bleeding the heart. It takes as much skill to say it as to keep silent about it.
213. Know how to contradict. It is a great trick of testing, not to engage but to engage others. It is the only twist that makes passions leap.
225. Know your ruling flaw. No one lives without one — the counterweight to their prime virtue; and if inclination favors it, it becomes tyrannical.
230. Open your eyes in time. Not everyone who sees has opened their eyes, nor everyone who looks truly sees.
238. Know the missing piece. Many would be truly accomplished if they were not missing that one thing without which perfection is never complete.
May each one draw the lessons that suit them best.