Wednesday, May 21, 2014

I am wiser, if not wise.


Loved the quote from today’s word a day:
A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. -Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)”.

Now I don’t remember the last time that I was wrong… but I know as well as I know that the sun comes up in the East and goes down in the West, that I have been wrong many a time in my life. Glad to learn that at least I am wiser today than yesterday, although it is probably not at all relative to my total wisdom.

Never mind “wise”.  I am still working on that and what is “wise”?
If one looks in a dictionary it runs from possessing discernment, to being erudite, to being “in the know”. Wisdom as a substantive takes on a more biblical meaning: however, in lay terms it can also be defined as the judicious use of knowledge.
If one possesses wisdom, is one wise? Can one be wise without possessing wisdom?

Wonder what Alexander Pope would have had to say to that? Guess that – when I have time (not any day soon) – I should explore these thoughts, if nothing more than for my own knowledge.

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