From the diapers of children they introduce wisdom, giving it the image of a bizarre grandfather with a gray beard and mustache, similar to a kind old man from whom the answers to all questions are not hidden. Wise sayings come from his lips, which are not immediately clear, but very deep. Fairy tales draw such an image; probably everyone had a similar idea in childhood. And this is not surprising, because wisdom is often associated with the age and experience with which it comes. Consider an interesting wise parable about an old man.
Parable of the old wise man and wanderers
In one locality there lived a sage who liked to spend time near the gates of the city, where his inhabitants came to ask for advice. In those days, it was customary to turn to sages who solve puzzles.
Once a small group of people approached this city. The one in front turned to the old man: "Sage, you live in this city and have a lot of experience. Please tell me, what kind of people live in this city: good or bad?" The shy eyes of a gray-haired man studied travelers for some time, after which he asked: "And what kind of people have you met before?" Then the man, without thinking twice, began to list: “Evil, cruel, proud, arrogant ...” The sage did not let the thought end, saying: “Then you have nothing to do in our city, because the same people live here.” Hearing these words, the procession went on.
After some time, other people came to the same city. Their clothes and appearance were very different from the previous group of travelers. The sage called the strangers: "What are you looking for, strangers?" The answer followed: "We want to find a city where we can make friends and coziness." Then the sage asked them the same question: "And what kind of people did you meet in other cities?" One of the men, the one who was the main one, answered: "Kind, loving, sympathetic ..." Then the old man's face lit up with a smile: "Welcome to our city! Here you will find such people."
Wise sayings of great people
People have always longed for wisdom. This is indicated by the statements of wise people. And you most likely liked the parable that told the wanderers and the sage. Could you learn a lesson from this fictional story? As one person said two thousand years ago: "The righteousness of wisdom is confirmed by its works."
Everyone can be wise, regardless of age. However, wisdom cannot be found in a philosophy that tries to get to the truth through speculation and fabrication. True wisdom, rather, is practical and lends itself to logical perception. Over the entire history of mankind, there have been many people on earth who, based on life experience, made interesting conclusions. Consider only some of the wise sayings of great people. One of those who reflected on wisdom and its significance was King Solomon.
The Wisdom of King Solomon
Here are some of the famous sayings of the wisest and greatest king of Israel, Solomon, which can be found in the Book of Proverbs:
- "Happy is the one who has discovered wisdom, and the person who is gaining insight, since gaining wisdom is better than collecting silver, and there is more profit from it than gold will bring."
- "Never be wise in your own eyes."
- "My son, take care of the wisdom that can be applied in practice, and your mental abilities. If you do this, then they will be life for you and like decorations on your neck."
It is said that this prudent king of the ancient people possessed the wisdom given to him by God himself. The Bible Book of Proverbs contains dozens of wise thoughts expressed by him. However, even some of the sayings given above reveal to us the value of the spiritual in comparison with the material.
The wise words of L. N. Tolstoy
L.N. Tolstoy became popular not only thanks to his writing talent, but also because he skillfully revealed the psychology of man, discussing the relationship between people. Once he wrote: “If you do something, do it well. If you can’t or don’t want to do well, you better not do it at all.” This idea perfectly reflects the essence of people who are used to doing many things superficially.
Statements by wise people and reflection on them show that those who are able to utter wisdom are excellent psychologists. And who better than the author of the aphorism can understand the true purpose of what he realizes?
Other statements about knowledge and understanding
"A wiser alien to wisdom is an ignoramus than a wise man hungering for ignorance."
(William Shakespeare).
“Only one deity can possess all-encompassing wisdom, and it is human nature to strive for it” (Pythagoras).
“All philosophers are wise men in their sentences and fools in their behavior” (Benjamin Franklin).
“Only that mind is the real mind that proves its worth in the act of cognition, and only that eye that really sees is the real eye” (F. Engels).
“The wisdom in all worldly affairs, it seems to me, is not to find out what needs to be done, but to know what to do before and what to do after” (L. N. Tolstoy).
However, there is one point that should be taken into account when searching for the wise utterances of the great in various sources. It will be useful to know. It must be remembered that wise utterances do not always belong to those to whom they are usually attributed. In order not to be misled, it is necessary to verify the authorship of certain words with the help of authoritative sources and reference books.
Balance is the main requirement of wisdom
In this article, we were able to consider only rare grains of true wisdom. Other poems, parables, wise sayings and riddles can be found in autobiographies and records that were left to us as a legacy. The main thing is to be balanced, because, as once used to be said by one smart person: "There will be no end to compiling a huge number of books." All of them are vivid evidence of not only the scale of human wisdom, but also human errors in great abundance. It’s better to remain a good person always and everywhere, and “to treat people as we would like to be treated with us.”