A subject came up in a thread on a blog I play around on and it sparked me thinking. The subject was "wisdom vs intelligence" and it sparked many quotes in my mind from the Tao of Pooh.
"A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn't really care, wisdom does."
― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
"The masters of life know the way, for they listen to the voice within them, the voice of wisdom and simplicity, the voice that reasons beyond cleverness and knows beyond knowledge."
― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
Told you I have gotten big on quotes since 7/30/13.
I have always believed Intelligence is what you know; the depth of the library in your mind and your ability to recall the most minute details from that reference section. I am a fairly intelligent person, but probably closer to par for the course. I know quite a lot, but have difficulty recalling it without the proper spark to set off the explosion of memory.
I have always felt Wisdom is the ability to learn from experience and apply it to one's life. While I do feel intelligent, 7/30/13 has made me far more wise than I ever was. And my exploration into the meaning of things and my love of quotes I have noticed has made me more wise than intelligent. I can't recall facts, but I can quotes and teachings and can and do apply them to my daily life.
Let me explain how I see things by example:
The intelligent person can look at a fire and explain to me the whys of the fire and the hows and find uses for it and will see it as a tool and nothing more, but the wise person remembers the damage it can cause, the pain, and knows to treat it with care. The wise person will use it as well, but with the protections of past experience that the intelligent person will write off as error on their part. The intelligent man is burdened with hubris where the wise man knows he knows nothing.
I'm done babbling for now.
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