Aphorism 130 Baltasar Gracián: Making and making seem

Baltasar Gracian's painting found in Graus (Huesca) Spain.

Make and make seem: « Things do not go through what they are, but for what they seem. To be worth and to know how to show is to be worth twice. What is not seen is as if it were not. The reason itself does not have its veneration where it does not have such a face. There are many more deceived than warned: deceit prevails and things are judged on the outside. There are things that are very different from what they seem. Good exteriority is the best recommendation of inner perfection. "(1)

Baltasar Gracian , in this aphorism of many facets, it seems as if I had prepared it especially for current sellers and commercial real estate agents.

Again, his words are a sample of commercial wisdom that we should not forget. How many times have we thought that a house was worth or not what the other said? And how many times have we made a mistake in the sales forecast? Fewer mistakes we would have made in his evaluation if at that time we had remembered this aphorism. And is that, as we know, the value is in the mind of the Other. Things are worth to the Other what this seems to be worth and our personal valuation hardly cares.

Things - the houses we sell - are what they seem to be, look or look ... They come to buy us. And what is not seen, is as if it were not or existed for sale, that is, what is not noticed in the offer, does not become part of the things that decide to buy or not buy the interested parties.

Gracian even quantifies it when it says: Valid and know how to show is worth twice , he says. That is why the sample and presentation phase of the Offer that we can offer to our clients is so important. (2)

Do you remember the semibroma that if you are not well positioned on the Internet, you do not exist? What do you know of someone who is very well positioned and yet has a very weak business structure? And how does it look otherwise, right?

But do not get confused, Gracián does not talk about cheating but that, as most judge by appearances ( There are many more deceived than warned: cheating prevails and things are judged on the outside There are things that are very different from what they seem ) , more It is worth to be -and to pretend to be- good at what we do, since if we are only and we do not pretend or give a worse image of our true nature ... we will be judged as bad. (The much later, Thomas's Theorem : Things are as they seem to be the Other, the buyer, regardless of whether they are , is a modern version of this aphorism.)