i’ve been thinking about the gift of wisdom. Here are some random thoughts to share. William Barclay, Scottish professor, has observed it is a curious paradox of learning that the more one learns about any subject the more one realizes there is still much to learn. In the Academy at Athens there was a three year course. In the first year students were called “The wise men.” In the second year they were called “Those who loved wisdom” But in the third year they were called simply “The learners.” Aesop’s Fables is a collection of storeis a slave storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564.

One of the stories is about the Old Lion and the Fox. which related:

“An old Lion, whose teeth and claws were so worn that it was not so easy for him to get food as in his younger days, pretended that he was sick. He took care to let all his neighbors know about it, and then lay down in his cave to wait for visitors. And when they came to offer him their sympathy, he ate them up one by one.

The Fox came too, but he was very cautious about it. Standing at a safe distance from the cave, he inquired politely after the Lion’s health. The Lion replied that he was very ill indeed, and asked the Fox to step in for a moment. But Master Fox very wisely stayed outside, thanking the Lion very kindly for the invitation.

“I should be glad to do as you ask,” he added, “but I have noticed that there are many footprints leading into your cave and none coming out. Pray tell me, how do your visitors find their way out again?”  The moral of the story is to have the wisdom to take warning from the misfortune of others.

On the old radio show, Amos and Andy, there is a scene where Amos asks Kingfish how it was he had such good judgment, “Well” he said, “good judgment comes from experience.”  And Andy asked, “But, where does experience come from? And Kingfish replied: “From bad judgment.”

Cardinal Spellman often said his father had advised him “always associate with people smarter than you are and you’ll have no difficulty finding them.” “The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius.

That’s my contribution to meditating on the subject of wisdom.