#008 – To be Without Passions
‘Tis a privilege of the highest order of mind. Their very eminence redeems them from being affected by transient and low impulses. There is no higher rule than that over oneself, over one’s impulses: there is the triumph of free will. While passion rules the character, no aiming at high office; the less the higher. It is the only refined way of avoiding scandals; nay, ’tis the shortest way back to good repute.
Wow, this can be a tricky one to navigate as a coach. We always say that we want to have passion. We want our players to have passion. The teaching here is understanding that Balthasar was not saying we shouldn’t have drive and lofty goals. In my opinion, he is stating that we have to be careful that we don’t let our passions corrupt our mission and our character. That we can’t let passion (think more like impulses) drive us. That can lead us down paths we do not want to go. The more we stick to the path we mapped out, the higher we will climb. For me, in a nutshell, this means simply: stick to the task at hand and do not get distracted by shortcuts and empty promises.
This blog series is based on the book “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” by Balthasar Gracián. This book was written for advice on how to achieve personal and professional success. The goal of this blog series is to visit the points of wisdom and put them in the spotlight of the coaching and education lens.
