| Acknowledgements |
|
xvii | |
| Abbreviations |
|
xix | |
| Chronology |
|
xx | |
| Introduction |
|
xxv | |
| Further Reading |
|
xlvii | |
| Translator's Note |
|
xlix | |
| 1 All things are now at their peak, above all being a true individual |
|
3 | (1) |
| 2 Inclination and ingenuity |
|
3 | (1) |
| 3 In your affairs, create suspense |
|
3 | (1) |
| 4 Knowledge and courage contribute in turn to greatness |
|
3 | (1) |
| 5 Make people depend on you |
|
4 | (1) |
| 6 The height of perfection |
|
4 | (1) |
| 7 Avoid outdoing your superior |
|
4 | (1) |
| 8 Imperturbability, the spirit's most sublime quality |
|
5 | (1) |
| 9 Belie your national defects |
|
5 | (1) |
| 10 Fortune and fame |
|
5 | (1) |
| 11 Deal with people from whom you can learn |
|
6 | (1) |
| 12 Nature and art, material and craft |
|
6 | (1) |
| 13 Declared and undeclared intentions |
|
6 | (1) |
| 14 Reality and manner |
|
7 | (1) |
| 15 Have intelligent support |
|
7 | (1) |
| 16 Knowledge and good intention |
|
8 | (1) |
| 17 Vary your procedure |
|
8 | (1) |
| 18 Application and capability |
|
8 | (1) |
| 19 Don't arouse excessive expectations from the start |
|
9 | (1) |
| 20 A person born in the right century |
|
9 | (1) |
| 21 The art of being lucky |
|
10 | (1) |
| 22 A person with wide-ranging knowledge |
|
10 | (1) |
| 23 Have no blemish |
|
10 | (1) |
| 24 Temper your imagination |
|
10 | (1) |
| 25 A word to the wise is enough |
|
11 | (1) |
| 26 Find everyone's weak spot |
|
11 | (1) |
| 27 Value intensiveness more than extensiveness |
|
12 | (1) |
| 28 Vulgar in nothing |
|
12 | (1) |
| 29 A person of integrity |
|
12 | (1) |
| 30 Don't make a profession out of discredited occupations |
|
13 | (1) |
| 31 Know the fortunate, to befriend them, and the unfortunate, to shun them |
|
13 | (1) |
| 32 Be known for pleasing people |
|
13 | (1) |
| 33 Know how to leave things to one side |
|
14 | (1) |
| 34 Know your key quality |
|
14 | (1) |
| 35 Think things through |
|
14 | (1) |
| 36 Size up fortune |
|
15 | (1) |
| 37 Recognize and know how to use insinuations |
|
15 | (1) |
| 38 Quit whilst fortune is smiling |
|
16 | (1) |
| 39 Recognize things at their peak, at their best, and know how to take advantage of them |
|
16 | (1) |
| 40 Be in people's good graces |
|
16 | (1) |
| 41 Never exaggerate |
|
17 | (1) |
| 42 Natural command |
|
17 | (1) |
| 43 Think with the few and speak with the many |
|
17 | (1) |
| 44 Affinity with great men |
|
18 | (1) |
| 45 Caution — use it, but don't abuse it |
|
18 | (1) |
| 46 Conquer your aversions |
|
18 | (1) |
| 47 Avoid getting embroiled |
|
19 | (1) |
| 48 Real depths make a true person |
|
19 | (1) |
| 49 A judicious and observant person |
|
20 | (1) |
| 50 Never lose your self-respect |
|
20 | (1) |
| 51 Choose well |
|
20 | (1) |
| 52 Never lose your composure |
|
20 | (1) |
| 53 Diligent and intelligent |
|
20 | (1) |
| 54 Show your mettle, but wisely |
|
21 | (1) |
| 55 Bide your time |
|
21 | (1) |
| 56 Quick and impulsive actions |
|
22 | (1) |
| 57 Those who think things through are more secure |
|
22 | (1) |
| 58 Know how to adapt yourself |
|
22 | (1) |
| 59 Leave a good impression |
|
23 | (1) |
| 60 Good judgment |
|
23 | (1) |
| 61 Eminence in what's best |
|
23 | (1) |
| 62 Work with good tools |
|
24 | (1) |
| 63 The excellence of being first |
|
24 | (1) |
| 64 Know how to avoid giving yourself grief |
|
24 | (1) |
| 65 Outstanding good taste |
|
25 | (1) |
| 66 Make sure of a successful outcome |
|
25 | (1) |
| 67 Choose occupations that win praise |
|
26 | (1) |
| 68 Make others understand |
|
26 | (1) |
| 69 Don't give in to vulgar humours |
|
27 | (1) |
| 70 Know how to refuse |
|
27 | (1) |
| 71 Don't be uneven, or inconsistent in your actions |
|
27 | (1) |
| 72 A resolute person |
|
28 | (1) |
| 73 Know how to be evasive |
|
28 | (1) |
| 74 Don't be impossible to deal with |
|
28 | (1) |
| 75 Choose a heroic model |
|
29 | (1) |
| 76 Don't always be joking |
|
29 | (1) |
| 77 Know how to be all things to all people |
|
29 | (1) |
| 78 Skill in embarking on something |
|
30 | (1) |
| 79 A genial temperament |
|
30 | (1) |
| 80 Take care when gathering information |
|
30 | (1) |
| 81 Dazzle anew |
|
31 | (1) |
| 82 Take neither the good nor the bad to extremes |
|
31 | (1) |
| 83 Allow yourself some minor slip |
|
31 | (1) |
| 84 Know how to use your enemies |
|
32 | (1) |
| 85 Don't be the wild card |
|
32 | (1) |
| 86 Forestall malicious gossip |
|
32 | (1) |
| 87 Culture and refinement |
|
33 | (1) |
| 88 Let your manner be lofty |
|
33 | (1) |
| 89 Understand yourself |
|
34 | (1) |
| 90 The art of living long: live well |
|
34 | (1) |
| 91 Only act if prudence has no doubts |
|
34 | (1) |
| 92 Exceptional sense |
|
35 | (1) |
| 93 A universal person |
|
35 | (1) |
| 94 Unfathomable abilities |
|
35 | (1) |
| 95 Know how to maintain expectation |
|
36 | (1) |
| 96 On moral sense |
|
36 | (1) |
| 97 Make and keep your reputation |
|
36 | (1) |
| 98 Conceal your wishes |
|
36 | (1) |
| 99 Reality and appearance |
|
37 | (1) |
| 100 A man free from illusion |
|
37 | (1) |
| 101 Half the world is laughing at the other half, and all are fools |
|
37 | (1) |
| 102 A stomach for great mouthfuls of good fortune |
|
38 | (1) |
| 103 Each with the dignity proper to their status |
|
38 | (1) |
| 104 Understand what different jobs entail |
|
38 | (1) |
| 105 Don't be tedious |
|
39 | (1) |
| 106 Don't vaunt your good fortune |
|
39 | (1) |
| 107 Don't appear self-satisfied |
|
40 | (1) |
| 108 A short cut to being a true person |
|
40 | (1) |
| 109 Don't be condemnatory |
|
40 | (1) |
| 110 Don't hang around to be a setting sun |
|
41 | (1) |
| 111 Have friends |
|
41 | (1) |
| 112 Win affection |
|
42 | (1) |
| 113 In good fortune prepare for bad |
|
42 | (1) |
| 114 Never compete |
|
42 | (1) |
| 115 Get used to the bad temperaments of those you deal with |
|
43 | (1) |
| 116 Always deal with upstanding people |
|
43 | (1) |
| 117 Never talk about yourself |
|
43 | (1) |
| 118 Gain a reputation for courtesy |
|
44 | (1) |
| 119 Don't make yourself disliked |
|
44 | (1) |
| 120 Live according to common practice |
|
44 | (1) |
| 121 Don't make a great deal over nothing |
|
45 | (1) |
| 122 Mastery in words and deeds |
|
45 | (1) |
| 123 A person without affectation |
|
46 | (1) |
| 124 Be desired |
|
46 | (1) |
| 125 Don't keep a tally of ignominious actions |
|
47 | (1) |
| 126 The fool is not someone who does something foolish, but someone who, once this is done, doesn't know how to hide it |
|
47 | (1) |
| 127 Nonchalant grace in everything |
|
47 | (1) |
| 128 A sublime spirit |
|
48 | (1) |
| 129 Never complain |
|
48 | (1) |
| 130 Do, and appear to do |
|
48 | (1) |
| 131 A gallant nature |
|
49 | (1) |
| 132 Reconsider things |
|
49 | (1) |
| 133 Better mad with the crowd than sane all alone |
|
49 | (1) |
| 134 Have double of life's necessities |
|
50 | (1) |
| 135 Don't be given to contradiction |
|
50 | (1) |
| 136 Fully understand matters |
|
51 | (1) |
| 137 The wise person should be self-sufficient |
|
51 | (1) |
| 138 The art of leaving things alone |
|
51 | (1) |
| 139 Know your unlucky days |
|
52 | (1) |
| 140 Immediately find the good in everything |
|
52 | (1) |
| 141 Don't enjoy the sound of your own voice |
|
53 | (1) |
| 142 Don't support the worse side out of stubbornness |
|
53 | (1) |
| 143 Don't go against existing belief to avoid seeming vulgar |
|
54 | (1) |
| 144 Go in supporting the other person's interests so as to come out achieving your own |
|
54 | (1) |
| 145 Don't expose your sore finger |
|
55 | (1) |
| 146 Look beneath the surface |
|
55 | (1) |
| 147 Don't be inaccessible |
|
55 | (1) |
| 148 Possess the art of conversation |
|
56 | (1) |
| 149 Know how to deflect trouble on to someone else |
|
56 | (1) |
| 150 Know how to sell your wares |
|
57 | (1) |
| 151 Think ahead |
|
57 | (1) |
| 152 Never be associated with someone who can cast you in a poor light |
|
57 | (1) |
| 153 Avoid stepping into great men's shoes |
|
58 | (1) |
| 154 Don't be too quick to believe or to bestow affection |
|
58 | (1) |
| 155 Skill in controlling your passions |
|
59 | (1) |
| 156 Choose your friends |
|
59 | (1) |
| 157 Don't be mistaken about people |
|
60 | (1) |
| 158 Know how to use your friends |
|
60 | (1) |
| 159 Know how to suffer fools |
|
60 | (1) |
| 160 Talk circumspectly |
|
61 | (1) |
| 161 Know your pet failings |
|
61 | (1) |
| 162 Know how to triumph over envy and malevolence |
|
61 | (1) |
| 163 Never let compassion for the unfortunate earn you the disfavour of the fortunate |
|
62 | (1) |
| 164 Test the waters |
|
62 | (1) |
| 165 Fight a clean fight |
|
63 | (1) |
| 166 Differentiate between a sayer and a doer |
|
63 | (1) |
| 167 Know how to help yourself |
|
63 | (1) |
| 168 Don't become a monster of stupidity |
|
64 | (1) |
| 169 Take more care not to fail once than to succeed a hundred times |
|
64 | (1) |
| 170 Always have something in reserve |
|
64 | (1) |
| 171 Don't waste favours |
|
65 | (1) |
| 172 Don't engage with someone with nothing to lose |
|
65 | (1) |
| 173 Don't be brittle as glass in dealing with people |
|
65 | (1) |
| 174 Don't live in a hurry |
|
66 | (1) |
| 175 A person of substance |
|
66 | (1) |
| 176 Either know, or listen to someone who does |
|
67 | (1) |
| 177 Avoid familiarity when dealing with people |
|
67 | (1) |
| 178 Believe your heart |
|
68 | (1) |
| 179 Reticence is the stamp of true ability |
|
68 | (1) |
| 180 Never be ruled by what you think your enemy should do |
|
68 | (1) |
| 181 Without lying, don't reveal every truth |
|
69 | (1) |
| 182 A dash of boldness in everything is an important element of good sense |
|
69 | (1) |
| 183 Don't hold opinions doggedly |
|
69 | (1) |
| 184 Don't stand on ceremony |
|
70 | (1) |
| 185 Don't stake your reputation on a single throw |
|
70 | (1) |
| 186 Recognize faults |
|
70 | (1) |
| 187 Anything popular, do yourself anything unpopular, use others to do it |
|
71 | (1) |
| 188 Be ready to praise |
|
71 | (1) |
| 189 Take advantage of what a person lacks |
|
72 | (1) |
| 19o Find the consolation in everything |
|
72 | (1) |
| 191 Don't be pleased with excessive courtesy |
|
72 | (1) |
| 192 A truly peaceable person is a person with a long life |
|
73 | (1) |
| 193 Beware the person who goes in supporting someone else's interests so as to come out achieving their own |
|
73 | (1) |
| 194 Have a realistic idea of yourself and your affairs |
|
73 | (1) |
| 195 Know how to appreciate |
|
74 | (1) |
| 196 Know your lucky star |
|
74 | (1) |
| 197 Never be hindered by fools |
|
75 | (1) |
| 198 Know how to transplant yourself |
|
75 | (1) |
| 199 Know how to garner esteem — wisely, not pushily |
|
75 | (1) |
| 200 Have something still to desire |
|
76 | (1) |
| 201 All those who appear fools are, along with half of those who don't |
|
76 | (1) |
| 202 Words and deeds make a perfect man |
|
76 | (1) |
| 203 Know the great people of your time |
|
77 | (1) |
| 204 Undertake what's easy as if it were hard, and what's hard as if it were easy |
|
77 | (1) |
| 205 Know how to use scorn |
|
77 | (1) |
| 206 Realize that the vulgar are everywhere |
|
78 | (1) |
| 207 Practise self-restraint |
|
78 | (1) |
| 208 Don't suffer from a fool's sickness |
|
79 | (1) |
| 209 Free yourself from common stupidity |
|
79 | (1) |
| 210 Know how to use the truth |
|
79 | (1) |
| 211 In heaven, everything is good; in hell, everything bad |
|
80 | (1) |
| 212 Always keep to yourself the ultimate tricks of your trade |
|
80 | (1) |
| 213 Know how to contradict |
|
80 | (1) |
| 214 Don't turn one stupid mistake into two |
|
81 | (1) |
| 215 Beware the person with hidden intentions |
|
81 | (1) |
| 216 Speak clearly |
|
82 | (1) |
| 217 Neither love nor hate forever |
|
82 | (1) |
| 218 Don't act obstinately, but with care |
|
82 | (1) |
| 219 Don't be known for artifice |
|
83 | (1) |
| 220 When you can't wear a lion's skin, wear a fox's |
|
83 | (1) |
| 221 Don't be annoyingly impetuous |
|
83 | (1) |
| 222 A person who is cautious is clearly prudent |
|
84 | (1) |
| 223 Don't be very idiosyncratic |
|
84 | (1) |
| 224 Know how to take things |
|
84 | (1) |
| 225 Know your sovereign fault |
|
85 | (1) |
| 226 Be careful to oblige |
|
85 | (1) |
| 227 Don't believe your first impression |
|
85 | (1) |
| 228 Don't be a scandalmonger |
|
86 | (1) |
| 229 Know how to divide up your life wisely |
|
86 | (1) |
| 230 Open your eyes in time |
|
87 | (1) |
| 231 Never let something be seen half done |
|
87 | (1) |
| 232 Be a little practical |
|
87 | (1) |
| 233 Don't get other people's taste wrong |
|
88 | (1) |
| 234 Don't entrust your reputation to another without having their honour as security |
|
88 | (1) |
| 235 Know how to ask |
|
89 | (1) |
| 236 Grant something as a favour before it has to be given as a reward |
|
89 | (1) |
| 237 Never share secrets with superiors |
|
89 | (1) |
| 238 Know what you lack |
|
90 | (1) |
| 239 Don't be too sharp |
|
90 | (1) |
| 240 Know how to appear the fool |
|
90 | (1) |
| 241 Take a joke, but don't make someone the butt of one |
|
91 | (1) |
| 242 Carry things through |
|
91 | (1) |
| 243 Don't be completely dove-like |
|
92 | (1) |
| 244 Know how to put someone under an obligation |
|
92 | (1) |
| 245 Sometimes reason in a singular and out-of-the-ordinary way |
|
93 | (1) |
| 246 Don't offer an apology to someone who hasn't asked for one |
|
93 | (1) |
| 247 Know a little more and live a little less |
|
93 | (1) |
| 248 Don't be carried away by the last person you meet |
|
93 | (1) |
| 249 Don't start to live just when life has to end |
|
94 | (1) |
| 250 When should you reason in reverse? |
|
94 | (1) |
| 251 Human means must be sought as if there were no divine ones, and divine ones as if there were no human ones |
|
94 | (1) |
| 252 Neither entirely selfish, nor entirely altruistic |
|
95 | (1) |
| 253 Don't express an idea too plainly |
|
95 | (1) |
| 254 Don't dismiss something bad because it's minor |
|
96 | (1) |
| 255 Know how to do good |
|
96 | (1) |
| 256 Always be forearmed |
|
96 | (1) |
| 257 Never break off relations |
|
97 | (1) |
| 258 Look for someone to help you shoulder misfortunes |
|
97 | (1) |
| 259 Anticipate offences and turn them into favours |
|
97 | (1) |
| 260 You will never belong entirely to someone else nor they to you |
|
98 | (1) |
| 261 Don't persist in folly |
|
98 | (1) |
| 262 Know how to forget |
|
98 | (1) |
| 263 Many pleasurable things don't have to belong to you |
|
99 | (1) |
| 264 Don't have careless days |
|
99 | (1) |
| 265 Know how to really challenge your subordinates |
|
99 | (1) |
| 266 Don't be bad by being totally good |
|
100 | (1) |
| 267 Silken words, and a mild nature |
|
100 | (1) |
| 268 The sensible person does at the beginning what the fool does in the end |
|
100 | (1) |
| 269 Take advantage of your novelty |
|
101 | (1) |
| 270 Don't be the only person to condemn what pleases many |
|
101 | (1) |
| 271 Someone who knows little should keep to what's safest in any profession |
|
101 | (1) |
| 272 When selling, let your price be that there is no price |
|
102 | (1) |
| 273 Understand the temperaments of those you deal with |
|
102 | (1) |
| 274 Have appeal |
|
103 | (1) |
| 275 Go with the flow, but not beyond decency |
|
103 | (1) |
| 276 Know how to renew your character using nature and art |
|
103 | (1) |
| 277 Show yourself off |
|
104 | (1) |
| 278 Avoid being noted |
|
104 | (1) |
| 279 Don't respond to contradiction |
|
105 | (1) |
| 280 An honourable person |
|
105 | (1) |
| 281 The approval of knowledgeable people |
|
105 | (1) |
| 282 Use absence |
|
106 | (1) |
| 283 Be sensibly inventive |
|
106 | (1) |
| 284 Don't meddle |
|
106 | (1) |
| 285 Don't perish from someone else's misfortune |
|
107 | (1) |
| 286 Don't allow yourself to be under an obligation, either wholly or to everyone |
|
107 | (1) |
| 287 Never act when passions are inflamed |
|
107 | (1) |
| 288 Live as circumstances demand |
|
108 | (1) |
| 289 The greatest stigma for a person |
|
108 | (1) |
| 290 To combine esteem and affection is a real blessing |
|
108 | (1) |
| 291 Know how to appraise |
|
109 | (1) |
| 292 Let your natural talents overcome the demands of the job |
|
109 | (1) |
| 293 On maturity |
|
109 | (1) |
| 294 Moderation in forming opinions |
|
110 | (1) |
| 295 Heroic, not histrionic |
|
110 | (1) |
| 296 A man of many, and truly majestic, qualities |
|
110 | (1) |
| 297 Act as though always on view |
|
111 | (1) |
| 298 Three things make a prodigy |
|
111 | (1) |
| 299 Leave people hungry |
|
111 | (1) |
| 300 Ina word, a saint |
|
112 | (1) |
| Notes |
|
113 | |
