How To Triumph Over Rivals and Detractors: Balthasar Gracian

How empowering and bizarre a word is this:

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It is not enough to despise them, though this is often wise: a gallant bearing is the thing. One cannot praise a man too much who speaks well of them who speak ill of him. There is no more heroic vengeance than that of talents and services which at once conquer and torment the envious. Every success is a further twist of the cord round the neck of the ill-affected, and an enemy's glory is the rival's hell. The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied wins applause. The immortality of his fame is the measure of the other's torture: the one lives in endless honour, the other in endless pain. The clarion of Fame announces immortality to the one and death to the other, the slow death of envy long drawn out. -Balthasar Gracian.

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Imagine never getting cross! (I mean I'm cross now just thinking about it!!) This person who has the wisdom to speak well forever of those who speak ill of him or her, and mean it nonetheless, is surely at last at the final frontier of godly wisdom let alone worldly wisdom.

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We all know the truth that 'an enemy's glory is the rival's hell.' We don't like to admit it but it's the truth. Those that transgress us are never perfectly forgiven first time. There's a latency involved in that process. Yet, on the other side of things, it bears some thought that if we forget about the grudge someone has against some 'transgression' we've inflicted on them (having apologised of course!) we stand to gain that endless honour that comes with a clean heart.

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One cogent truth and command about this maxim -- don't envy. It does us no good at all and it can only feed the rival's success.

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Of course, from a strictly Christian viewpoint, implementing this paradigm will align with Proverbial advice and also gospel instruction to 'bless enemies, and not curse them,' for in that we might just turn them over to be our friends.

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Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.