Theme of Zoom Meeting: Wisdom
© 2020 by Richard E. Gordon Last updated: 4/30/2022
Duplication prohibited without author’s permission.
Please understand if I seem on occasion to cut you short in your remarks. I only want to give everyone an equal chance to participate, especially those among us who may be more reserved. I hope I have the wisdom to know when and how to open the conversation-door to all without squeezing it closed on those wishing to express just a few more sentences – or paragraphs. Yes, I hope I have the wisdom to be a good moderator – and it is Wisdom that brings us to tonight’s topic.
Questions
1. Without referring to a dictionary, what does wisdom mean to you? After we share our meaning, feel free to check out the dictionary.
2. How do you think a male would feel being called a wiseman? A wiseguy? A wisenheimer? What’s my point? I’m not sure, but just trying to figure what I am trying to get at here – well, the point, to be perfectly blunt, it takes a sharp wise man to take every chance to tickle a smile. Maybe I’m just a wiseacre.
3. Tell us about someone you knew personally whom you consider wise. How did she/he show wisdom? (Notice I put she first – wise of me, isn’t it?)
4. Shut your eyes and picture a wise image? Now describe the image. Was your image male or female? If everyone or nearly everyone pictured a male, what does this dominant image reflect about sexism?
5. How does a person become wise? Can you be taught wisdom? Or is wisdom something that you are just born with, unrecognized in your childhood perhaps, but coming to bloom as you grow older? Could it be -- wisdom is in your genes?
6. Must you be elderly to be wise?
7. Would you rather be considered wise or smart? Why? Must you be very intelligent to be very wise?
8. Would you rather be wise than rich? Explain.
9. Can you be both wise and evil? Explain.
10. Who do you think was a wise U.S. President? How did he show wisdom?
11. Is there a politician today on the National scene whom you consider wise?
12. Can only those who suffer become wise? Can an easy life help produce a wise person?
13. Did our discussion today add anything new to your view of wisdom? Broadened or narrowed you concept of wisdom? Made you recognize that wisdom is a concept almost exclusively male associated?
Quotations on Wisdom
The beginning of each quotation is a link leading you to the source.
1. “Sabbath is an incubator for wisdom. When we allow the rush and pressure of our days to fall away, even for a short time, we are more able to discern the essential truth of what lies before us.”— Wayne Muller in Sabbath
2.
“The
fool doth think
he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
― As You Like It
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ―
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” ―
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” ―
“By
three methods
we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by
imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
―
7. “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” – Albert Einstein
8. “Wise men talk because they have something to say; Fools , because they have to say something,” – Plato
9. Do not be wise in words. Be wise in deeds. Jewish Proverb
10. “A wise man’s greatest accomplishment is finding and loving a wise woman. But if that be true, I wonder – what is a wise woman’s greatest accomplishment?” --REG