Knowledge and wisdom.docx

Knowledge and wisdom.docx

《Knowledge and wisdom.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Knowledge and wisdom.docx（33页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

Knowledgeandwisdom

Knowledgeandwisdom

Thereisadifferencebetweenknowledgeandwisdom.

Knowledgeisknowingthatatomatoisafruitnotavegetable.

Wisdomisknowingnottoincludeitinafruitsalad.

Thestarfish

Onceamanwaswalkingalongabeach.Thesunwasshininganditwasabeautifulday.Offinthedistancehecouldseeapersongoingbackandforthbetweenthesurf'sedgeandandthebeach.Backandforththispersonwent.Asthemanapproached,hecouldseethattherewerehundredsofstarfishstrandedonthesandastheresultofthenaturalactionofthetide.

Themanwasstuckbythetheapparentfutilityofthetask.Therewerefartoomanystarfish.Manyofthemweresuretoperish.Asheapproached,thepersoncontinuedthetaskofpickingupstarfishonebyoneandthrowingthemintothesurf.

Ashecameuptotheperson,hesaid:

"Youmustbecrazy.Therearethousandsofmilesofbeachcoveredwithstarfish.Youcan'tpossiblymakeadifference."Thepersonlookedattheman.Hethenstoopeddownandpickuponemorestarfishandthrewitbackintotheocean.Heturnedbacktothemanandsaid:

"Itsuremadeadifferencetothatone!

"

TheAmericandream

AnAmericanbusinessmanwasstandingatthepierofasmallcoastalMexicanvillagewhenasmallboatwithjustonefishermandocked.Insidethesmallboatwereseverallargeyellowfintuna.TheAmericancomplimentedtheMexicanonthequalityofhisfish.

"Howlongdidittakeyoutocatchthem?

"theAmericanasked.

"Onlyalittlewhile"theMexicanreplied.

"Whydon'tyoustayoutlongerandcatchmorefish?

"theAmericanthenasked.

"Ihaveenoughtosupportmyfamily'simmediateneeds"theMexicansaid.

"But"theAmericanthenasked,"Whatdoyoudowiththerestofyourtime?

"

TheMexicanfishermansaid:

"Isleeplate,fishalittle,playwithmychildren,takeasiestawithmywife,Maria,strollintothevillageeacheveningwhereIsipwineandplayguitarwithmyamigos.Ihaveafullandbusylife,senor."

TheAmericanscoffed:

"IamaHarvardMBAandcouldhelpyou.Youshouldspendmoretimefishingandwiththeproceedsyoucouldbuyabiggerboatand,withtheproceedsfromthebiggerboat,youcouldbuyseveralboats.Eventuallyyouwouldhaveafleetoffishingboats.Insteadofsellingyourcatchtoamiddleman,youwouldselldirectlytotheconsumers,eventuallyopeningyourowncanfactory.Youwouldcontroltheproduct,processinganddistribution.YouwouldneedtoleavethissmallcoastalfishingvillageandmovetoMexicoCity,thenLAandeventuallyNYCwhereyouwillrunyourexpandingenterprise."

TheMexicanfishermanasked:

"Butsenor,howlongwillthisalltake?

"

TowhichtheAmericanreplied:

"15-20years."

"Butwhatthen,senor?

"

TheAmericanlaughedandsaid:

"That'sthebestpart.Whenthetimeisright,youwouldannounceanIPO-anInitialPublicOffering-andsellyourcompanystocktothepublicandbecomeveryrich.Youwouldmakemillions."

"Millions,senor?

Thenwhat?

"

TheAmericansaidslowly:

"Thenyouwouldretire.Movetoasmallcoastalfishingvillagewhereyouwouldsleeplate,fishalittle,playwithyourkids,takeasiestawithyourwife,strolltothevillageintheeveningswhereyoucouldsipwineandplayyourguitarwithyouramigos..."

AlexanderandDiogenes

NowwhenAlexander[theGreat]appearedbeforetheGreekleadersinCorinththeygreetedhimwarmlyandpaidhimlavishcompliments-allofthem,thatisbutone.Afunnyfellow,aphilosophernamedDiogenes.HehadviewsnotunlikethoseoftheBuddha.Accordingtohim,possessionsandallthethingswethinkweneedonlyservetodistractusandgetinthewayofoursimpleenjoymentoflife.Sohehadgivenawayeverythingheownedandnowsat,almostnaked,inabarrelinthemarketsquareinCorinthwherehelived,freeandindependentlikeastraydog.

Curioustomeetthisstrangefellow,Alexanderwenttocallonhim.Dressedinshiningarmour,theplumeonhishelmetwavinginthebreeze,hewalkeduptothebarrelandsaidtoDiogenes:

'Ilikeyou.LetmeknowyourwishandIshallgrantit.'Diogenes,whohaduntilthenbeencomfortablysunninghimself,replied:

'Indeed,Sire,Ihaveawish.''Well,whatisit?

''Yourshadowhasfallenoverme:

standalittlelessbetweenmeandthesun.'Alexanderissaidtohavebeensostruckbythisthathesaid:

'IfIweren'tAlexander,IshouldliketobeDiogenes.'

Source:

"ALittleHistoryOfTheWorld!

byE.H.Gombrich

Testingforgossip

InancientGreece,Socrateswasreputedtoholdknowledgeinhighesteem.Onedayanacquaintancemetthegreatphilosopherandsaid,揇oyouknowwhatIjustheardaboutyourfriend?

?

揌oldonaminute,?

Socratesreplied.揃eforetellingmeanythingI抎likeyoutopassalittletest.It抯calledtheTripleFilterTest.?

揟riplefilter?

?

揟hat抯right,?

Socratescontinued.揃eforeyoutalktomeaboutmyfriend,itmightbeagoodideatotakeamomentandfilterwhatyou抮egoingtosay.That抯whyIcallitthetriplefiltertest.ThefirstfilterisTruth.Haveyoumadeabsolutelysurethatwhatyouareabouttotellmeistrue?

?

揘o,?

themansaid,揂ctuallyIjustheardaboutitand...?

揂llright,?

saidSocrates.揝oyoudon抰reallyknowifit抯trueornot.Nowlet抯trythesecondfilter,thefilterofGoodness.Iswhatyouareabouttotellmeaboutmyfriendsomethinggood?

?

揘o,onthecontrary厰

揝o,?

Socratescontinued,搚ouwanttotellmesomethingbadabouthim,butyou抮enotcertainit抯true.Youmaystillpassthetestthough,becausethere抯onefilterleft:

thefilterofUsefulness.Iswhatyouwanttotellmeaboutmyfriendgoingtobeusefultome?

?

揘o,notreally厰

揥ell,?

concludedSocrates,搃fwhatyouwanttotellmeisneithertruenorgoodnorevenuseful,whytellittomeatall?

?

Rafting

Bygoodfortune,IwasabletoraftdowntheMotuRiverinNewZealandtwiceduringthelastyear.Themagnificentfour-dayjourneytraversesoneofthelastwildernessareasintheNorthIsland.

Thefirstexpeditionwasledby"Buzz",anAmericanguidewithagreatdealofraftingexperienceandmanystoriestotellofmightyriverssuchastheColorado.WithaleaderlikeBuzz,therewasnoreasontofearanyofthegreatrapidsontheMotu.

Thefirsthalfday,inthegentleupperreaches,wasspentdevelopingteamworkandco-ordination.Strokeshadtobemastered,andthedisciplineoffollowingcommandswithoutquestionwasessential.Intheboilingfuryofarapid,therewouldbenoroomforanymistake.WhenBuzzbellowedabovetheroarofthewater,aninstantreactionwasessential.

WemasteredtheMotu.Ineveryrapidwefoughtagainsttheriverandweovercameit.ThescreamedcommandsofBuzzwerematchedonlybythefuryofourpaddles,aswetooktheraftexactlywhereBuzzwantedittogo.

Attheendofthejourney,therewasagreatfeelingoftriumph.Wehadwon.Weprovedthatweweresuperior.Weknewthatwecoulddoit.Wefeltpowerfulandgood.ThemysteryandmajestyoftheMotuhadbeenovercome.

ThesecondtimeIwentdowntheMotu.theexperienceIhadgainedshouldhavebeeninvaluable,buttheguideonthisjourneywasaverysoftlyspokenKiwi.Itseemedthatitwouldnotevenbepossibletohearhisvoiceabovethenoiseoftherapids.

Asweapproachedthefirstrapid,heneverevenraisedhisvoice.Hedidnotattempttotakecommandofusortheriver.Gentlyandquietlyhefeltthemoodoftheriverandwatchedeverylittlewhirlpool.Therewasnodramaandnoshouting.Therewasnocontesttobewon.Helovedtheriver.

Wespedthrougheachrapidwithgraceandbeautyand,afteraday,theriverhadbecomeourfriend,notourenemy.ThequietKiwiwasnotourleader,butonlythepersonwhosesensitivitywasmoredevelopedthanourown.Laughterreplacedthetensionofachievement.

SoonthequietKiwiwasabletoleanbackandletallofustaketurnsasleader.Aquietnodwasenoughtodrawattentiontothethingsourlackofexperiencepreventedusfromseeing.Ifwemadeamistake,thenwelaughedanditwasthenextperson'sturn.

WebegantopenetratethemysteryoftheMotu.Now,likethequietKiwi,welistenedtotheriverandwelookedcarefullyforallthosethingswehadnotevennoticedthefirsttime.

Attheendofthejourney,wehadovercomenothingexceptourselves.Wedidnotwanttoleavebehindourfriend,theriver.Therewasnocontest,andsonothinghadbeenwon.Ratherwehadbecomeonewiththeriver.

Itremainsdifficulttobelievethattheexternalcircumstancesofthetwojourneysweresimilar.Thedifferencewasinanattitudeandaframeofmind.Attheendofthejourney,itseemedthattherecouldbenootherway.Giventheopportunitytochoosealeader,everyonewouldhavechosensomeonelikeBuzz.Attheendofthesecondjourney,wehadglimpsedaverydifferentvisionandwefelthumble-andintenselyhappy.

Themousetrap

Amouselookedthroughthecrackinthewalltoseethefarmerandhiswifeopenapackage."Whatfoodmightthiscontain?

"themousewondered.Hewasdevastatedtodiscoveritwasamousetrap.

Retreatingtothefarmyard,themouseproclaimedthewarning:

"Thereisamousetrapinthehouse!

Thereisamousetrapinthehouse!

"

Thechickencluckedandscratched,raisedherheadandsaid"Mr.Mouse,Icantellthisisagraveconcerntoyou,butitisofnoconsequencetome.Icannotbebotheredbyit."

Themouseturnedtothepigandtoldhim"Thereisamousetrapinthehouse!

Thereisamousetrapinthehouse!

"Thepigsympathized,butsaid"Iamsoverysorry,Mr.Mouse,butthereisnothingIcandoaboutitbutpray.Beassuredyouareinmyprayers."

Themouseturnedtothecowandsaid"Thereisamousetrapinthehouse!

Thereisamous