I don’t remember the context but the other day I told my mother-in-law that “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit but wisdom is knowing not to put it into a fruit salad.” She then proceeded to find a magnet that had that saying on it. It is on our refrigerator at home. Hopefully she just thought it was a neat saying and wasn’t trying to tell me something – but, I digress.
Many of us might be intelligent, educated, or well-read but are we wise? The tomato quote is thought-provoking as we examine our lives. Another way of looking at it is “Knowledge is knowing that the street is a one-way street but wisdom is still looking both ways.”
In the next week, as we deal with people and situations, I encourage us to be wise. We don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. We don’t have to point out everyone’s flaws. We don’t need to always point out the obvious. In fact, we can possibly make things better by demonstrating a little wisdom either through restraint or by being positive.
We see all the time on social media, in the news, or even in our every day relationships when someone resorts to name-calling or derogatory comments because they think that they are right. Even if they are correct, that is not probably the optimal way to gain someone’s respect or to try and change someone else’s mind.
Wisdom vs. Knowledge. Sometimes knowledge isn’t enough to make the world better. Remember that success is a choice. What choice will we make today?