Intelligence and Wisdom
I spent the last week at the Philmont Leadership Challenge in beautiful Cimarron, NM. I had the chance to learn a bit more about servant leadership and work on my outdoor skills a little. I also had some time to reflect on an interesting question posed to me by one of the members of my crew.
He asked me, “You seem wise. How did you get so wise?” This caught me flat-flooted for a moment because I’d never really considered myself to be a very wise person. Experienced perhaps but not wise like Yoda or Gandalf. So I answered him as I thought more about it.
Intelligence is knowing what to do. Wisdom is knowing what not to do.
The more I thought about that quote the more I realized the importance of the distinction.
Basic Botany
There’s another saying that people tweeted back at me when I shared the above quote. It’s used in the context of describing Intelligence and Wisdom for Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying:
Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting tomatoes in a fruit salad.
It’s silly and funny but it gets right to the point and is a Continue reading