Baltasar Gracián y Morales, better known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit priest and Baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón). His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. He is best known for his book The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647), but his novel El Criticón (1651-57) is considered his greatest work. January 8, 1601 – December 6, 1658; died at 57. Alive at the same time as Isaac Newton, René Descartes, Rembrandt, Louis XIV of France, and William Shakespeare. Wiki link