Sage or fool?
Sage: a person recognized for judgment and wisdom.
Fool: one lacking good sense of judgment; one who can be easily tricked or made to look foolish; to dupe; to act in jest; to joke; to amuse oneself.
How often have you heard the saying: a foolish man thinks himself wise, the wise man knows he is foolish? Or some variation of that? It would seem that being the wise man would be preferable to being the foolish man, but can the two really be separated?
If, like me, you watch old kung fu movies, read manga, or watch anime, then it seems that wisdom and foolishness go hand in hand. In most forms of media the wisest sage is always also the biggest fool. (and if you watch old kung fu movies, anime, or read manga the foolish behavior is often pervy). If the foolish man thinks himself wise, he is clearly showing poor judgment in determining his wisdom, since wisdom would indicate that the fool knows little to nothing of what it is to be wise.
As socrates said: the only true wisdom lies in knowing that we know nothing.
Being the fool seems like a less desirable preference since it gives the appearance of a lack of wisdom. Yet to know how little you actually know shows true wisdom since you are acknowledging your lack of knowledge, and by acknowledging it you can take measures to improve upon it. Throughout the world there are plenty of fools, and few sages.
Which will you be? Will you embrace your lack of knowledge or will you deny it vehemently? As for me, I'm going to foolishly go about life learning what I can and maybe one day I'll be wise enough to know how foolish I am.
Comments 10
It would be that if any man 'thinks' himself wise, he's already missed the mark. That is like someone 'thinking' about how humble s/he is, or justifiably proclaiming one's sacrifices to the World.
Wisdom isn't something that one can subscribe to ; even 'knowing' that one 'does not know' can become a mask like others ... For it is one thing to say that like a motto and to truly accept the depth of one's own ignorance.
Nice sermon, Ryu. Thank you. :-)
It kind of reminds me of The Hallow Quest, the Authorian Tarot. It all starts with the Major Arcana "The Fool". You start your journey as the Fool and end as the Magician (Sage).
We all start out as fools and with knowledge and experience, we gain wisdom and become Sage's, just as long as we are willing to learn from our experiences.
Thanks again for the great sermon!
It kind of reminds me of The Hallow Quest, the Authorian Tarot. It all starts with the Major Arcana "The Fool". You start your journey as the Fool and end as the Magician (Sage).
We all start out as fools and with knowledge and experience, we gain wisdom and become Sage's, just as long as we are willing to learn from our experiences.
Thanks again for the great sermon![/quote]
I agree with what you are trying to say here. However staying true to Tarot it would all start and end with the Death card as a sign of a new beginning or start of the journey. However the fool would have to realize and accept that he is on a journey to start growing. Then at the end Death represents the "birth of the sage" or beginning of the sage's journey.
This is a very good sermon. Sorry for the slight derail.
May the Force be with you.
I totally agree :lol:
You do not wake up one morning and suddenly realise you are old or wise, you arrive gradually, almost inperceptably.
It is often more apparent that you are simply no longer young or as foolish as you may have been.
Also like aging, wisdom is a natural progression - aging is about surviving life and wisdom is about surviving pain.
You needn't aspire or seek wisdom from others - it will come to you naturally, as will the grey hair and wrinkles of time.