Wisdom

This is my collection of possibly wise sayings, grouped into common proverbs, religious proverbs, advice on how to make decisions, and observations I have made myself.

Common proverbs

A large corpus of common proverbs contain much contradictory advice: it is sometimes possible to find one proverb giving the opposite advice to another for the same situation. The proverbs I have chosen here are in accordance with what I have observed to seem to be true; it may be possible to find proverbs that disagree with them!

• Look before you leap.
• Don't try to run before you can walk.
• 41.2% of all statistics are made up.
• Down with the categorical imperative!
• Never underestimate the expressive power of an rapid mixture of Irish Gaelic and Latin. Also, never overestimate its audience.

Religious proverbs

I have made a selection from the Book of Proverbs, of the ones that have so far seemed most useful to me.

Advice for making decisions

• Do not make a decision while under the influence of a strong emotion. From cognitive therapy.
• Think ahead to your death-bed -- which decision do you think you will then wish you had made now? From Jesuit teaching.

My own observations

• A little space inside yourself is worth a great space outside.
• Those who control much observe little; those who observe much have little need but great power to control.
• Observe; when you have observed all, consider. When you have considered all, speak or act. Much wrong is done by consideration on incomplete observation, or by speech or action on incomplete consideration.
• Many people say ``do not be judgemental'' when they think your opinion of them is not what they would like it to be. If you change your mind and think what you are told to, judging them well, they will not tell you ``do not be judgemental''.
• Confessions under torture are notoriously unreliable. Do not believe what you say to yourself about something when you have been torturing yourself about it.

Some gleanings

• Wrong-doing is usually motivated by over-valuing something: for example, ``The love of mammon (hoarded treasure) is the root of all evil'' -- it is not the hoarded treasure itself that is the root of evil.

  To be more specific than the above, forms of wrong-doing are often motivated by love of things including:

  • security for the future
  • protection of one's self-esteem
  • getting something for nothing
  • having at least as much as someone else

Other people's wisdom

Eric Gill:

That state is a state of slavery in which a man does what he likes to do in his spare time and in his working time that which is required of him. This state can only exist when what a man likes to do is to please himself.

That state is a state of Freedom in which a man does what he likes to do in his working time and his spare time that which is required of him. This state can only exist when what a man likes to do is to please God.

Other people's wisdom collections

• Mostly about science and knowledge

[Thoughts] John C. G. Sturdy

Last modified: Sun Jun 10 22:12:58 GMT Daylight Time 2007