random:
a book i'm reading about wisdom points out that "like many big ideas, it's also nettled with contradictions. Wisdom is based upon knowledge, but part of the physics of wisdom is shaped by uncertainty...
These inherent contradictions do not fatally vex a potential definition of wisdom; rather they are embedded in it. One of the best ways to think about wisdom, in fact, is to try to identify those rare individuals who manage to reconcile these contradictions and still embody wisdom. These are (or once were) living, breathing, and, because they are human, imperfect definitions of wisdom, but they are also less abstract, more like wisdom in the flesh."
'inherent contradictions'
haha, as many 'big ideas' do it does indeed involve contradictions.
not that i truly know what wisdom is.
at least i'm not the only paradox in the universe; however that i knew all along.
perhaps the beginning of wisdom is in knowing that we will never have a perfect definition and it we did find it someone would probably have swept it under a rug.
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."
-Winston Churchill
indeed.
actually this book also briefly discusses how wisdom is persecuted...
describing how many of the past people we now consider to have been 'wise' were sent to their death in one way or another and that the very person that came up with the word 'philosophy' was burned out of his home!
modern people we as a society think are wise?
...talk show hosts and famous individuals.
however it does thankfully note that there are plenty of wise unknowns.
random:
in lieu of my 'seeking' and such recycled speech from the prior two posts, a random quote from Plutarch points out that "We ought to seek out virtue not merely to contemplate it, but to derive benefit from doing so."
wait what, so you mean we should learn from the continual journey of seeking out virtue and truth instead of sitting around expecting it to come?!?
where have i heard that before...
as i have pointed out previously, intoxicating thoughts are but mistresses passed down through generations... embracing many throughout the years and on occasion making them think they're the only one.
i think the difficult part is starting to seek.
because for me unless i'm caught in an apathetic spell i'm always seeking...
not directly, but i find that my manner of living kicks up rocks and examines what's under them...
the more i think about it the more i consider 'how is it sought without simply sitting and contemplating it?'
i think you have to draw from life to learn anything.
and believe this quite is not downing contemplating, but rather saying contemplation alone is nothing.
and that i believe is true.
random:
'what is wisdom?'
'what is truth?'
perhaps wisdom is recognizing truth and applying it.
...but what is that?
hmm.
random:
i feel like jogging about...
four miles.
probably only two since i'm out of shape.
random:
i have odd things for a 19 year old.
stored at my grandparents house, yet mine.
a 1903 upright piano that's been in the family for years.
platinum-edged bavarian china that i can't wait to have a house to display in.
an antique hall tree/mirror.
and a large marble collection.
...i like antiques, what can i say?
and i know grandma really wants me to take my piano...
but i want it there where it belongs.
i suppose i'm coming to terms with the degrading nature of life.
how i love the sunsets yet do not think of the full implication of the metaphor in relation to life...
you work to accomplish and then it all fades away...
but by the end those things aren't so important any longer.
i'm not pulling a 'life is working to get stuff then you lose it' argument but rather a 'we built this house. we raised two kids in it. we've loved four grand kids in it. we can't live in it anymore.' perspective.
or in the case of my friends at church, 'I've worked this land, i've watched sunsets from this porch... i can't maintain it any longer' perspective.
the thought that the life you love...
you just can't do.
the day your hand is too shaky to play the bass.
the day your arthritis is too bad to hold your pen.
the day your voice is too frail to sing.
the day you can't get out of bed on your own.
I suppose this is the importance of living life without such things.
you have to live without the outdoors, the arts, the active lifestyle...
you have to be yourself without it.
yes it can form you, yes you need it, but can you survive without it?
this is also why it's important to 'know' who you are before you ever consider a relationship, if you're not happy on your own don't make someone else make you happy, your sole source of life should not be a person.
same principles in my mind.
yet to tie it all in...
you can still kick up those rocks as you go down the path...
no matter who or what you become.
hmm...
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