El Discreto

<p>In the experience of life Gracián shows incomparable wisdom. -Friedrich Nietzsche </p><p><br></p><p>Almost four hundred years ago in Zaragoza Spain Baltasar Gracián began to write what many modern-day scholars consider to be the most prolific and mysterious of his seven works <em>El Discreto: The Complete Man </em>(1646). It is a treatise that describes the qualities that are needed for a man to become the center of perfection as he experiences life and its spacious fields of time. Through his mystifying divinized and sacred style he explores the themes of moral and political philosophy literature criticism human nature morality and the complexity of social relationships. It is a discourse full of fables metaphors allegories and wordplay that requires the reader to measure himself against the greatness of its matter in order to understand and benefit from its wisdom. </p><p><br></p><p>Chained to a linguistic barrier for centuries with its complexity making it nearly impossible to translate into English this Spanish masterpiece has remained largely unavailable to modern readers until now. This fascinating book which Friedrich Nietzsche referred to as the finest and most complicated work to ever come out of Europe contains all that is needed to become a Master of Matters and a Master of Men.</p>