“The educated person is someone who knows how to find out what he doesn’t know.” George Simmel. OK, one of my quotes is – “When you think you are the smartest person in the room – think again!” Everyone doesn’t know more than they know but the really smart people over the centuries know that the only way they will know more someday is to keep learning – every day – regardless of their age, position, or former education. If you are not a life-long learner meaning you learn something new, anything, due to a purposeful use of your time, even if it’s only a few minutes a day, you are falling behind. Over the years with this approach one day you will be “years” behind and it will be too late to catch up. Trust me I know some smart, not just education smart, but commonsense smart people under the age of twenty and a lot of really dumb people over the age of sixty. Regardless of your age bracket let me ask you again if you are a life-long learner, why are you and if you are not, why aren’t you? “Every man in the world is better than someone else. And not as good as someone else.”
“Every man in the world is better than someone else. And not as good as someone else.” William Saroyan. Ever met someone smarter than you? Better looking than you? Dumber than you. Got it yet . . . with over 350 million people living in the US alone, I will guarantee that every day you will meet or come in contact with someone wiser, richer, nicer, and someone poorer, dumber, and unpleasant. Traveling the world my entire life speaking to audiences in many countries I have met some of the most wonderful people in my entire life and yet some of the people I have encountered and the experience I had with them, what can I say, were unpleasant interactions. Been there? Ever met someone you want to immediately erase from your memory and others with whom you would love to spend more life and time with? What’s the difference? Is it ego, arrogance, superiority, the need for control, or compassion, kindness, understanding, empathy, and respect? Or, is it something else? Think about it for a moment – who are the people you like to be with and the people you like to avoid?
“The purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its thinking.” Christopher Morley. This quote can be interpreted in both a negative and a positive way. The negative – when you read a book its purpose is to keep you believing only what it is presenting regardless of whether it’s science, religion, politics, health, finance, etc. An example – You are reading a book about how the earth is flat, the atom is the smallest particle or if you disagree with someone on any topic you are wrong and they are right. As an avid reader my entire life I have a simple rule – I don’t just read books by people I know I am going to agree with. And why? Well, what if my rationale is wrong and I only expose myself to people I agree with I will always be wrong. But, if I expose myself to other viewpoints or ones I disagree with, if my opinions can’t stand the test of a different opinion, maybe my viewpoint needs to change. Ever had a change in attitude because of something someone else said, something you read, or something you heard? If you haven’t I will wager you are living in a log cabin in the woods in Vermont. The other viewpoint of the quote – is the positive interpretation. If you let an author, regardless of the topic, even this short message persuade you that your viewpoint needs further investigation and research then in my opinion, keep reading the stuff by these authors. They will over time, help you achieve wisdom independence grounded in facts and not superstition, opinions, or what I refer to as written garbage.