# Newsletters > Balthasar Gracian's The Art of Worldly Wisdom >  Aphorism #144 Begin with Another's to end with your Own.

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Aphorism #144 Begin with Another's to end with your Own.

ÂTis a politic means to your end. Even in heavenly matters Christian teachers lay stress on this holy cunning. It is a weighty piece of dissimulation, for the foreseen advantages serve as a lure to influence the other's will. His affair seems to be in train when it is really only leading the way for another's. One should never advance unless under cover, especially where the ground is dangerous. Likewise with persons who always say No at first, it is useful to ward off this blow, because the difficulty of conceding much more does not occur to them when your version is presented to them. This advice belongs to the rule about second thoughts [xiii], which covers the most subtle manÂuvres of life. 


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