Andreas Salcher links this
knowledge that was previously only accessible to a minority with the current state of science. He invites you on a journey to self-knowledge and shows how each individual can use the wisdom of the Jesuits for everyday life and thus improve their lives:
- How to choose your friends
- About dealing with enemies
- Heart or head - in the vise of emotions
- Beware of defeating superiors
- Knowing the fine art of manipulation
- Acquire a good reputation - never talk about yourself
- The favor of the moment - wait patiently or act decisively?
- The art of being lucky
"Whoever steps in front of the mirror to change has already changed." Seneca
Reading samples
A small minority has dominated the rules of power for centuries.
"With good manners, manipulative friendliness, knowledge of the vulnerability of others and camouflaging their true intentions, a very specific group of people gain access to the control centers. Seemingly by chance, they come out on top when it comes to promotions and climb ever higher up the hierarchy. Today, the smart careerists have replaced the brutal power managers of past centuries. Their goal has not changed. But their method has. The successful climbers have realized that offensive brutality is no longer enough to achieve power and prestige. Above all, you have to be completely free of emotional ties to other people in order to be able to sacrifice them without much remorse if the situation demands it. Anyone who behaves unwisely towards their superior today will no longer lose their head, but their job. However, if the decent ones always lose out, the indecent ones will prevail in the long run. We are all experiencing what that leads to. The honest should not always be the stupid ones. The end must not justify the means. Decent people must not be shy when dealing with power."
In my life, I have always come across exciting materials.
"What amazed me most when reading the best-known work by Baltasar Gracián y Morales, his full name, was how little people have changed in the way they think and feel over the centuries. Technology and science have revolutionized the outside world. But everything still stands and falls with the inner world of man. Just as in the past, great projects fail not because of a lack of technical knowledge, but because of human weakness. On the other hand, imagination, generosity and energy overcome all imaginable limits of what is possible. There are few books that describe human nature with its dark sides and its capacity for greatness as aptly as "The Hand Oracle and the Art of Worldly Wisdom". What Gracián writes about the complexity of the human soul, about emotional intelligence, about the laws of power, about public relations and about communication also impresses today's readers. How modest the recipes of advertising agencies, spin doctors or self-help gurus seem when compared with what is perhaps the best tactical guide to life in world literature."
A friend understands our past
"To put it bluntly, we shouldn't spend more time choosing our car or our clothes than we do on our friends. Because as we get older, their number will not increase, but decrease. We must therefore be all the more careful not to overlook a true friend for a lifetime until it is too late. Once we have chosen a person as a friend after extensive examination, we should give them the best of ourselves. If our conscience warns us because we only ever let a loyal friend lift us up when we are down, we should also share the beautiful things in our lives with them. A friend understands our past, believes in our future and accepts us today as we are."
