What Is Wisdom?

Nope. I am wise.

 

I do agree with you most whole heartedly Babs.
In my estimation, Solomon was a wise speaker, but not a very wise doer which fits many seemingly wise people. The story of Solomon says that people from all over the known world came to hear him speak and hear his wisdom but alas, his actions dealing with his personal life were not guided by his own words. The old testament story of Solomon goes a little further and tells us that even God regretted having Solomon as king.

Perhaps it is just one of the many examples of, "do as I say, not as I do", types of people.

 

Would a man who had 500 wives be considered wise?

 

Uh, make that 700 wives and 300 concubines to boot but no, not very wise at all because as the history lesson says, "these thousand wives took his heart from God".

On the lighter side though, if each wife and concubine took their turn and "knew" Solomon, each one would only be with him once in 2.73 years.
That may sound like a little bit-0-heaven for some men but if we perform one other extrapolation involving uh..let's say, cramps and Midol, we have 33 or so ladies who are ready to assassinate him or whoever was handy each day of the month but that doesn't count overlaps and pregnancies.
There was no peace forthcoming in that palace!

Me thinks that what might have started out to be a bit-o-heaven on earth would be a near replica of h-e-double hockey sticks.

 

Plus having to keep peace among all those women.

 

I like this and feel it is a crucial point. Sometimes when listening to others conversations or discussions I think to myself "Why aren't they asking this or that?" to get a better understanding. I find that these conversations or discussions turn into debates ultimately to prove who is right and who is wrong.

 

The key here, in my opinion, stems from a single word; "listen". There are many, as you well know, who get into a conversation that really isn't a conversation. It's no more than one-upmanship in that people hear something, start processing their own answers without actually listening to whatever it is that they are formulating an answer to.
Unless a person is deaf, we all hear but how many of us are students of listening?

A number of years ago, a gentleman in California put an ad in the newspaper stating that he would sit and listen for 30 minutes or so without saying anything for the price of $20.00. As it turned out, his idea was a hit and there were not enough hours in a day to fulfill all of the requests for a seating.

The Proverb which says, "bow your ear to me my son, and I will teach you wisdom" is most noteworthy because it first demands listening which in this case is the first step of wisdom.

 

First of all, I'd go along with a lot of what you wrote and with what others have mentioned. In particular, I agree to your above-quoted statement.
To answer your questions: "Have You Ever Met Someone Wise? Moreover, if you were to meet someone for the first time, do you think you could judge whether or not that person possessed wisdom? Would you require a lengthy relationship in order to make this judgement? What qualities would tell you that someone was wise? How would you distinguish wisdom from eloquence, or sophistication, or compassion?"

No, I'm afraid I have never met someone wise, not even a know-it-all but I may have read about one of them. Maybe someone else would have thought those people I did meet would be wise or a know-it-all. It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? I don't think I could identify someone wise when meeting for the first time. It doesn't show. As you say, I would need to know quite a lot about a person before I could make such a judgement. As for me, being wise is not like being educated, nor eloquent, sophisticated or compassionate. I would even exclude the latter from the qualities a wise person necessarily has. Yet humility seems to be such a necessary quality. So what is a wise person for me?

As you said, being wise does not only include knowledge, experience, a proper sense of judgement, which, to my mind, includes an awareness of one's own limits, i.e. admitting "I don't know", but it also has to do with acting, with taking the right decisions at the right time. To exemplify this, I have certainly met who I would consider to be highly educated people, yet it would never have occurred to me that they were wise. Sometimes it turned out to be the contrary because their decisions ran counter to their knowledge and expertise. A wise person would be flexible, would not necessarily act on principles. I'd like to introduce emotional intelligence here. Maybe you meant that when referring to that dinner guest. You called it poor judgement. Perhaps we mean the same thing.

In other words, a person does not seem to be wise if they are evidently unable to cope with life, are effectively hindered by their own aspirations, expectations and principles however justified and honourable these may be. Being wise is most certainly not an innate quality or natural ability but is based on experience and knowledge. In a nutshell, being wise is not just an intellectual and moral quality but takes a very practical approach to life as well. Emotional intelligence and taking the right decisions (deeds) are critical.

 

Well written, well expressed, and well received.....brilliant!
Welcome to our little family @Thomas Stearn!

 

Some of the wisest words I ever heard are, "If in doubt, don't". There is a also a saying that, "He who hesitates is lost." I think more things have been lost by going off half cocked than by taking time to think it over. Considering that, wisdom is taking time to learn the facts in any situation and making a decision based on those facts. Pretty much what @Gloria Mitchell said in post # 12.

 

@Thomas Stearn
Welcome! I wish I possessed the ability to write as well as you do. Well said!

Me, I am simply possessed, but do not possess.
Frank

 

@Bobby Cole and @Frank Sanoica

I'm new to this forum and don't know what the policy on off-topic posts is. In any case, I hope readers will show some understanding if I just don't want to leave your friendly posts uncommented. Just a quick response to both of you: I was pleased to read your positive feedback. Thank you. It's always very gratifying if you realise that your message was well-received, as Bobby put it. As I see it, there's no need for the two of you to hide your light, though. Be reading you.

 

Speaking, or rather writing from my own perspective, although staying on topic is much more preferred than the alternative, we often do stray without any harsh reprisals. @Ken Anderson is a pretty good judge of when to come in and steer things back in the right direction when it get's too far out of hand and no one else has managed to bring things back to reality.
And yes, the "thank you" is also well received...............

 

Wisdom is applying accumulated knowledge in a way that benefits all and harms none.
As St Francis said -
" Do as you would be done by"