Vaagmi
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Information, Knowledge and Wisdom
Zig Ziglar
We get information from newspapers and magazines. Many people downplay the importance of newspapers, saying they are negative, and yet in virtually every newspaper I read there is some positive information. Newspapers frequently give information on studies and discoveries, and even give book reviews on books that can make a difference in our lives, so I read the daily newspaper and a number of magazines.
Knowledge comes from good books, periodicals and seminars. The amount of knowledge available today is staggering compared to what it was just five years ago. That knowledge can be transferred by fax, phone, e-mail, computer networks and a host of other means instantly all over the world. Knowledge is not the total answer to all of life's challenges. If it were, we would be further along the path to paradise than we are at the moment! In addition, every Ph.D. in America would be rich and happy and every high-school dropout would be broke and miserable. Needless to say, that is not the case.
The missing ingredient is wisdom, which actually is a spiritual dimension and is best defined as "the correct use of the truth in the knowledge which we have." All of us have known people with relatively limited formal education, but who were successful in business and in life itself. These people had an ability to discern the truth with the knowledge they did have, and make good decisions. My mother, who only finished the fifth grade, is a classic example. She was widowed in the heart of the Depression with six children too small to work, yet she was able to successfully raise her family because she had an incredible amount of wisdom. She seldom made mistakes in judgment, which is more than we can say about some of the most brilliantly educated people in the world.
The message is clear. Get all the information and knowledge you can, but remember - it's the use you make of the truth that will enable you to be at the top!
Zig Ziglar
We get information from newspapers and magazines. Many people downplay the importance of newspapers, saying they are negative, and yet in virtually every newspaper I read there is some positive information. Newspapers frequently give information on studies and discoveries, and even give book reviews on books that can make a difference in our lives, so I read the daily newspaper and a number of magazines.
Knowledge comes from good books, periodicals and seminars. The amount of knowledge available today is staggering compared to what it was just five years ago. That knowledge can be transferred by fax, phone, e-mail, computer networks and a host of other means instantly all over the world. Knowledge is not the total answer to all of life's challenges. If it were, we would be further along the path to paradise than we are at the moment! In addition, every Ph.D. in America would be rich and happy and every high-school dropout would be broke and miserable. Needless to say, that is not the case.
The missing ingredient is wisdom, which actually is a spiritual dimension and is best defined as "the correct use of the truth in the knowledge which we have." All of us have known people with relatively limited formal education, but who were successful in business and in life itself. These people had an ability to discern the truth with the knowledge they did have, and make good decisions. My mother, who only finished the fifth grade, is a classic example. She was widowed in the heart of the Depression with six children too small to work, yet she was able to successfully raise her family because she had an incredible amount of wisdom. She seldom made mistakes in judgment, which is more than we can say about some of the most brilliantly educated people in the world.
The message is clear. Get all the information and knowledge you can, but remember - it's the use you make of the truth that will enable you to be at the top!
