Baltasar Gracián (8 January 1601 - 6 December 1658) was a Spanish Jesuit, scholar and philosopher. Belmonte-born Gracian adopted the vows of the Jesuits in 1633 and taught at several schools before he was appointed Rector of the Jesuit College of Tarragona. He regularly drew the ire of his superiors through publishing works without first seeking permission and using unorthodox imaginative oratory devices in his preaching. His style reached its height in the publication of The Art of Worldly Wisdom, which is considered the exemplar of conceptism.