Knowledge and wisdom

Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another
What is wisdom? What is involved in the concept of wisdom? How does the concept of wisdom compare with the concept of knowledge in matters related to conduct and behavior? Well, knowledge is one thing, wisdom is quite another. Knowledge does not imply wisdom. It is one thing to know what is right or prudent. It is quite another thing to do it. The wise person not only knows what is right or prudent, but also does it. He lives according to his knowledge. A person may know a certain action is bad, imprudent or wrong, yet he does it anyway. He may know that reason dictates a particular course, and yet he acts against reason and does what he wishes, knowing his action to be imprudent. For one reason or another he doesn't act as he knows he ought to act, doesn't do what he knows he should do. He may know that smoking is imprudent, bad for one's health, yet he smokes. He may know that he ought to keep his weight down to a healthy level yet he is obese and gaining. He may know that lying is wrong, yet he lies. He may know that stealing is wrong, yet he steals. He may know that adultery is wrong, yet he does it. Etc., etc. This world is full of people who do things they know are wrong, imprudent or foolish. What name do you give to a person who acts against reason, prudence or right? How about the name "fool"? A person who does foolish things, knowingly or not, is a fool. From what we have just said it is obvious that wisdom in a person implies certain character traits. For a person to habitually do what he knows he ought to do implies strength of character, seriousness, resolution. He can't, for example, be lazy. He can't allow laziness to dictate his behavior or he would be doing the foolish thing all the time. He can't be a slave to base appetites, desires and impulses. He must have the strength to resist them in favor of reason, conscience, and prudence. He can't just act on wish, desire and impulse. He must follow mind and his higher nature. The wise man is the man of thought, understanding and temperance, a man of principle and moral strength, a man of self-control, self- restraint, self-discipline; a man who rules himself, a man of reason, good sense and virtue. The wise person is the person of understanding and right, intelligent, prudent action. Wisdom implies self-regulation in accordance with knowledge. The Bible says: The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. Job 28:28 Wisdom involves more than knowledge. Wisdom involves practice. We live in a nation following the ways of evil, a nation duped by the lies of the Prince of Lies. The masses have, in fact, gotten so far from Truth, so separated from it, that they no longer even know what it looks like. The society doesn't know right from wrong. And it is not just the masses. More importantly it is the intelligentsia. It is the leaders, those who wield power. There has indeed been an inversion. The righteous are condemned and the wicked are exalted. When any society sanctions any behavior as grossly wrong as homosexuality and demonizes those who condemn it, that society is totally lost to morality and Truth. This is foolishness of the very highest order. And what can one expect to happen to a society that embraces foolishness and rejects and condemns Goodness and Truth? .