Baltasar Gracian: aphorisms and biography

Baltasar Gracian is an outstanding Spanish writer of the 17th century. He successfully combined spiritual and worldly activities - he was a Jesuit and a philosopher at the same time. As a legacy, he left the magnificent books that compiled the anthology of Spanish literature and are still classic works of the Baroque era.

Biography

According to scant information, Baltasar Gracian was born in 1601 in Belmonte, Spain. He was the son of a poor village doctor, and from the early years he was destined for the fate of the priest. It is known that in 1619 his uncle helped him enter the school of the Jesuits Calatayud and Huesca. After graduation, Gracian Balthazar independently studied grammar and philosophy in the cities of Callatayud and Gerona, in 1623 he was fortunate enough to become a student at the University of Zaragoza, where he devoted himself to the study of theology.

After graduating from the university, the future writer becomes a teacher of rhetoric and grammar at the college of Kalalutuda. In 1631 he undergoes additional training at the Jesuit Order School , where preachers and confessors were trained.

Literary environment

In 1636, Baltasar Grassian began a new phase of his life. He was associated with the move to the city of Huesca, which at that time was the most important cultural center of the province of Aragon. The move was associated with a new appointment - in the local church, Gracian was to serve as a preacher. It was here that new names were born in the sphere of culture, literature and art, and, perhaps, under the influence of such an atmosphere, Baltasar Gracian decided to write his first literary work.

Treatise "The Hero"

His first treatise Gracian called "Hero". This literary work was written very quickly, literally a year after moving to Huesca. The invaluable help in writing the treatise to the future writer was rendered by a rich and influential friend who had an excellent library. "Hero" is a wonderful example of medieval didactic prose, in which, as in a mirror, the virtues and moral qualities that those who seek to gain recognition among their peers are reflected. With the help of this work, Gracian begins to develop the theme of moral philosophy. The treatise saw the light under the name of Lorenzo Gracian, who was the cousin of Baltasar, for, according to the Order of the Order, the Jesuits had no right to publish their works, which had not undergone internal censorship.

"Pocket oracle"

The most famous philosopher brought a collection of his own quotations and aphorisms, known as the "Pocket oracle." It contains the aphorisms of Baltasar Gracian and Morales, who in a witty manner propose their own reader to be prudent and patient. For example, there are known such sentences of Gracian as:

• "Even a hare lays a dead lion";
• "Long time roads lead to a favorable occasion";
• "Soon it happens - soon it collapses";
• "Do not constantly sharpen: eternal fun - for business interference";
• "Do not cope with the case - less trouble than not to start things at all, because the spilling of standing water, not flowing."

There are a lot of such short moralizing arguments in the book. Baltasar Gracian, whose aphorisms were so lively and witty, quickly became famous and popular. Against the backdrop of dull theological literature, his sayings were the gulp of living water, which the Spanish enlightenment lacked. The pocket oracle was very popular both in Spain and abroad - during the lifetime of Baltasar Gracian, a small literary work was translated into many European languages.

The peak of talent

And Grassian Balthasar himself, and his critics deservedly considered Carper's novel the main work of this writer. In it, Gracian shows his own vision of what the world should be like. Literature of this kind was very common in the era of late antiquity, and now, after a thousand years, Baltasar decides to return to this form of narration. The main characters personified nature and culture as symbols of cautious reflection and spontaneous impulse. At the end of the narrative, it is concluded that nature is imperfect, and in the end culture saves the world and leads to immortality. Like his other works, this novel will be signed by the name of another person.

The Legacy of Baltasar

The last ten years of his life Gracian devoted to writing the "Criticon" -a total work, telling about the place of man in modern life. Secular creativity brought the author more fame and honor, but also greatly alarmed the Jesuit order, whose leadership was dissatisfied with the literary work of the priest.

At the end of his life, the priest will write one single thing, signed by his own name - Baltasar Gracian. The books that were released earlier were already in full swing across the country, but formally their authors were other people. In the treatise "Reflections on the Sacrament," the author, on the background of purely religious reflections, renounces his own literary works. This should be done, as the patience of the leadership of the Jesuit order came to an end. Nevertheless, soon comes the last part of the "Criticon", undoubtedly belonged to the pen of Baltasar, and the author is brought to trial. He is deprived of the right to preach and write, sent to a provincial town, where he lives under the strict supervision of the Jesuit brothers. Such a life Gracian could not endure - he died on December 6, 1658, having lived less than a year after the Jesuit court.