“Wisdom isn’t a body of information. It’s the moral quality of knowing what you don’t know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty, and limitation.” — David Brooks, The Road to Character
Not everyone who knows a lot is wise.
I’ve always loved to read great books. But for a long time, I was using my knowledge wrongly. Whenever I finish a book, like *The 48 Laws of Power, *I’ll begin to look down on everyone who did anything contrary to what I’ve learned.
For instance, if a guy was trying to impress our boss at work, “This guy doesn’t understand how the world works,” I will egotistically think to myself.
True wisdom doesn’t boast. For wise people, the more they learn, the humbler they become. They don’t learn to look down on others. Instead, they become humbler because, for each new thing they discover, they wonder how much they still don’t know.
You could see this manifested in the life of the Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates (as detailed in The Apology of Socrates. When the Oracle at Delphi pronounced him the wisest man alive, he didn’t think of himself worthy of such a title.
He went around Athens, engaging with politicians, poets, and fellow philosophers to disprove the oracle, all of whom, to the surprise of Socrates, spoke with pride concerning even matters they knew nothing about.
What David Brooks simply pointed out in his wonderful book about character, in essence, is that true wisdom is ruled by humility.
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