Aphorism #87 Culture and Elegence

"Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture. Culture therefore makes the man; the more a man, the higher. Thanks to it, Greece could call the rest of the world barbarians. Ignorance is very raw; nothing contributes so much to culture as knowledge. But even knowledge is coarse if without elegance. Not alone must our intelligence be elegant, but our desires, and above all our conversation. Some men are naturally elegant in internal and external qualities, in their thoughts, in their address, in their dress, which is the rind of the soul, and in their talents, which is its fruit. There are others, on the other hand, so gauche that everything about them, even their very excellences, is tarnished by an intolerable and barbaric want of neatness." - Balthasar Gracian's "The Art of Worldly Wisdom"

The brute is little better than the beast. The barbarian is yet no man. Cultured in the society of a political community, he rises above the beast and becomes a man. The more cultured, the more civilized and enlightened; the more a man, the higher. But it is not all in the knowing that makes a man. More important is comportment and attitude - the elegance of his thoughts, speech and manifestation, and of his exploits; since it is through these which refine his society that culture thrives.