Maxims and Reflections (Ricordi)

As other reviewers have pointed out, Guicciardini belongs with the great masters of Aphorism. I ran across his writing in some modern collection of Aphorisms, as most others probably did.

It is worth noting that the book itself is very short, and the aphorisms are collected from three notebooks of different eras. As such, many of them are repeated. You're not getting a 140 page book of aphorisms; it is more like a 50 page book of such. If that annoys you, you probably shouldn't buy this book.

That said, I find Guicciardini to be perhaps the most wise of all the Aphorists in matters of business. Other Aphorists offer profound commentary into the human condition, or good advice for living within bureaucracies, or truths which ... everyone knows are true ... but nobody talks about for fear of sounding the pessimist. Guicciardini offers profound business/political insight. Imagine condensing the knowledge in "The Prince" into aphorisms, and mixing with plenty of earthy peasant wisdom, and that gives you a good idea of the nature of Guicciardini's writing.

Francesco Guicciardini's "Ricordi" is one of my all time favorite books, and a true masterpiece in the genre of wisdom writings.

This edition, titled "Maxims and Reflections," contains Nicolai Rubenstein's 1965 English translation of Ricordi, plus Mario Rubenstein's introduction from the same year.

I'll first examine the book itself, and then this particualr translation.

Ricordi is a short work containing unique insights and practical wisdom in the form of a few hundred reflections, most of which are one or several sentences long. In general, Guicciardini takes a comprehensive view of the various topics he explores, and offers a philosophy that combines a focus on expediency with one that also values morality. The book offers insights not only on how to deal with the world, situations, and yourself, but also on living a life as a decent individual who can live with himself, and does not compromise personal purity and principles to get ahead. Guicciardini is extremely penetrating, and his ideas are for the most part backed by his own long term and wide-ranging personal experiences.

In about 75 pages, he manages to explore a variety of subjects, and offer far more information and a far more braodminded outlook than a book like Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, which, though often grouped together with Ricordi, is in my opinion not nearly as valuable, informative, or effectively to the point.

Ricordi is a great read for anyone interested in self-improvement, human nature, sociology, business, leadership, relationships, etc.

Similar works include the afformentioned Prince, Baltasar Gracian's The Art of Worldy Wisdom, and certain essays of Arthur Schopenhauer. Though they are all great, I prefer Ricordi becuase it offers a far more multi-angled view and philosophy.

I am aware of three English translations of Ricordi:
Ninian Hill Thomson (late 1800s) "Counsels and Reflections"
Margaret Grayson (1965) "Francesco Guicciardini Selected Writings"
Nicolai Rubenstein (1965), "Maxims and Reflections."

The Rubenstein translation is in my opinion the best, and undoubtedly the clearest.

If you are interested in this book, also be sure to get my book The New Art of War, Tactics, and Power.

Rodney Ohebsion

On the surface of it, you wouldn't think a book such as this had much to offer us today, but you would be wrong. It belongs to a class of books which teach what I call the art of 'Crooked Wisdom,' but which could be more simply thought of as the art of survival in a far from perfect world.

Other books of this kind are Machiavelli's 'The Prince,' Balthasar Gracian's 'The Art of Worldly Wisdom,' and the 'Maxims of La Rochefoucauld.' Although the first of these may be a little too specialized to suit the needs of the ordinary person today, anyone who doesn't know one or two of the others, unless they happen to be exceptionally astute, is asking for trouble.

These books are both highly realistic and extremely practical, for they show us, not man as he is supposed to be and as we would like him to be, but man as he is with all his selfishness, stupidity, ambition, arrogance, malice, laziness and other imperfections, and they teach the art of how, not merely to survive, but even to thrive in the midst of our far from perfect fellow men and women.

'Crooked Wisdom,' then, should not be understood as the product of a crooked mind, but as the clear-sighted wisdom one needs to survive in a world teeming with such minds, a world involved in "the sordid struggle of self-interests, and in the scramble for power, position, and influence."

Another way of looking at 'Crooked Wisdom' is to see it as the art of avoiding dumb mistakes, an art based on a deep insight into human nature and into the quirks and foibles of our fellow men and women.

I first read Guicciardini many years ago, and on re-reading him was surprised to realize how many of his maxims had lodged themselves firmly in my mind, how I continued to act on them, and how they had served me very well indeed. I just wish I had remembered many more.

Here are a few brief examples of Guiccardini's counsel: "Small beginnings, hardly worthy of notice, are often the cause of great misfortune or success." "It is easy to ruin a good position, but very hard to acquire it." "It is prudent not to talk about one's own affairs except when necessary." "If you have offended a man, do not trust or confide in him...." "The weakest always get it in the neck." "Be careful in your conversations never to say anything which, if repeated, might displease others." "A ducat in your purse does you more credit than ten you have spent." "Deception is very useful, whereas your frankness tends to profit others rather than you."

Taken out of context, these fragments hardly do justice to Guiccardini, and suggest little of the importance he will come to have for anyone who takes the trouble to read his fascinating book. It was written to help his contemporaries survive their version of the rat-race and even come out on top, and since human nature hasn't changed it still has the power to do the same thing for you. All you need do is read it.