Wisdom is the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
Wisdom is an ideal that has been celebrated since antiquity as the application of knowledge needed to live a good life.
Beyond simply knowing/understanding what options are available, "Wisdom" provides the ability to differentiate between them and choose the one that is best.
Beyond simply knowing or understanding what options are available, Wisdom provides the ability to differentiate between them and choose the one that is best.
What this means exactly depends on the various wisdom schools and traditions claiming to help foster it.
In general, schools of wisdom have emphasized various combinations of the following: knowledge, understanding, experience, discretion, and intuitive understanding, along with a capacity to apply these qualities well towards finding solutions to problems.
In many traditions, the terms wisdom and intelligence have somewhat overlapping meanings; in others they are arranged hierarchically, with intelligence being necessary but not sufficient for wisdom.
Neo-Platonists like Cusanus, endorsed a 'docta ignorantia' in which the greatest wisdom was to recognize one's own ignorance of the divine.
According to Rice two wisdom traditions can be identified in the Renaissance: Contemplative and prudential.
Contemplative traditions, such as monastic traditions, emphasized meditation on one's own experience as a pathway to the divine: Augustine of Hippo was an early and influential figure in the Christian lineage of this tradition.
The status of wisdom or prudence as a virtue is recognized in cultural, philosophical and religious sources as the judicious and purposeful application of knowledge that is valued in society.
Psychologists have gathered data on commonly held beliefs or folk theories about wisdom.
Although there is an overlap of the implicit theory of wisdom with intelligence, perceptiveness, spirituality and shrewdness, it is evident that wisdom is a distinct term and not a composite of other terms.
Many, but not all, studies find that adults' self-ratings of wisdom do not depend on age.
Wisdom does not depend on age.
In 2009, a study reviewed which brain components were related to wisdom.
Researchers in positive psychology have defined wisdom as the coordination of "knowledge and experience" and "its deliberate use to improve well being."
A wise person can discern the core of important problems.
A wise person has self-knowledge.
A wise person seems sincere and direct with others.
Others ask wise people for advice.
A wise person's actions are consistent with his or her ethical beliefs.
Some religions have specific teachings relating to wisdom.
In the Christian Bible and Jewish scripture, wisdom is represented by the sense of justice of the lawful and wise king Solomon, who asks God for wisdom in 1 Kings 3.
Much of the Book of Proverbs, a book of wise sayings, is attributed to Solomon.
There is an oppositional element in Christian thought between secular wisdom and Godly wisdom.
The apostle Paul states that worldly wisdom thinks the claims of Christ to be foolishness.
In Islam, according to the Qur'an, all of the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus, as well as the Prophet Muhammad were chosen by Allah, mostly in times of political or moral crisis, to represent his wisdom.
The Prophet Muhammad said that: "Fearing Allah in your actions and intentions, and knowing that Almighty Allah is watching you wherever and whenever you are is the head/peak of wisdom".
Islam also mentions that a wise man with the name of Luqman once told his son to: "Sit with the learned men and keep close to them."
Sit with the learned men and keep close to them.
Confucius stated that wisdom can be learned by three methods: Reflection, imitation, and experience.
Wisdom is not told by self but unless asked for by another.
A wise man never tells his wisdom unless asked person to person.
Love of learning is akin to wisdom.
According to "Doctrine of the Mean," Confucius said, "Love of learning is akin to wisdom.
To practice with vigor is akin to humanity.
To know to be shameful is akin to courage.
The Way of learning to be great consists in manifesting the clear character, loving the people, and abiding in the highest good.
Buddha taught that a wise person is endowed with good bodily conduct, good verbal conduct & good mental conduct and a wise person does actions that are unpleasant to do but give good results and doesn’t do actions that are pleasant to do but give bad results.
He who arbitrates a case by force does not thereby become just.
The wise man is he who carefully discriminates between right and wrong.
He who leads others by nonviolence, righteously and equitably, is indeed a guardian of justice, wise and righteous.
One is not wise merely because he talks much.
He who is calm, free from hatred and fear, is verily called a wise man.
By quietude alone one does not become a sage if he is foolish and ignorant.
He who, as if holding a pair of scales, takes the good and shuns the evil, is a wise man.
He who understands both good and evil as they really are, is called a wise man.
In Taoism Practical Wisdom may be described as knowing what to say and when to say it.
A standard philosophical definition says that wisdom consists of making the best use of available knowledge.
As with any decision, a wise decision may be made with incomplete information.
The technical philosophical term for the opposite of wisdom is folly.
Aristotle defines wisdom as knowledge of causes: why things exist in a particular fashion.
In addition to experience there are a variety of other avenues to gaining wisdom.
Freethinkers and others believe that wisdom may come from pure reason and perhaps experience, while others believe that it comes from intuition or spirituality.
Beginning with the ancient Greeks, European culture associates wisdom with virtue.
Metis and Athene are associated with wisdom from earliest times.
Many philosophers talk about the virtue of wisdom in relation to courage and moderation, and in the Roman Catholic church, wisdom stands with justice, fortitude and moderation as one of the four cardinal virtues.
Plato's dialogues mention the virtue of wisdom, as knowledge about the Good and the courage to act accordingly.
The Good, as a Platonic Form, would involve the perfect ideas of good government, love, friendship, community, and a right relation to the Divine.
The Good would be about the right relations between all that exists.
Perhaps the search or love of wisdom is more important than any proven claim.
Socrates only claimed to know that he did not know, but this he was very certain of, and he showed the many contradictions in the claims of his fellow citizens.
In the Inuit tradition, developing wisdom was the aim of teaching.
An Inuit Elder said that a person became wise when they could see what needed to be done and do it successfully without being told what to do.
Holists believe that wise people sense, work with and align themselves and others to life.
Nicholas Maxwell, a modern philosopher, argued that the basic aim of academic inquiry ought to be to seek and promote wisdom.