Keep the extent of your Abilities unknown. The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honoured by all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.
Baltasar Gracián - The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
5 comments:
"The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom"
In his case, Gina Cola-wotsit's bottom.
If poor little Matt had taken Gracian's advice, he would have risen to the dizzy heights of an area manager for a catering supplies company, or maybe running a department in a local authority for somewhere dull.
We could all do with being mindful of Gracián.
Sam - yes, it could be said that he did hide his knowledge and abilities rather well, yet from outside the political bubble he was never impressive.
James - solidly realistic, we don't see it much now.
It is a variant of:-
Better to remain silent and he thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Doonhamer - it certainly is. There ought to be something similar for going on TV reality shows.
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