Wisdom Essay
Pranav Shah
Ms. Metcalf
April 23, 2013
Wisdom: The Path of a Young Man
Wisdom is applied knowledge. Someone who is wise uses the knowledge taught to them by their mentors and discovers new pieces of knowledge. Throughout this unit, my definition of wisdom has not changed, but instead, has expanded. At first, I thought wisdom only had to do with interactions with other people and common sense, but I learned that it also had to do with spiritual things.
Section 1: Wise ways of the world
Okonkwo is not a person with common sense. He attempts to shoot one of his wives in a fit of fury during the Week of Peace, something that is frowned upon by the Igbo society. If he had more common sense, he would not have attempted to shoot his wife, no matter how mad he was, and instead, he could have isolated himself from his family in his quarters so he didn’t have to hurt anybody or even attempt to do so. Another thing he could’ve done is take deep breaths and think about what he was going to do. He needs to calm down in order to think ahead, and have the Right View, so that he can understand that people have imperfections. Then he should have the Right Intention, which includes having a resistance to anger, something Okonkwo clearly has a problem doing. Being angry all the time clouds up the mental part of life and impairs the ability to do the right things at the right times. Someone can do the right things, but at the wrong time and it seems like he or she did not do the right thing. (194 words)
Section 2: Moral and Intellectual Wisdom
One time when I was a younger child, I had to go through a martial arts test so I could reach my goal of becoming a black belt. It was both physically and mentally demanding, and that’s where I learned that hard work pays off. The test started off with remembering all the techniques from the seventeen previous belts, which wasn’t too hard, but then we had to do boxing, which include jabs, crosses, hook punches, and uppercuts. That was where
Ms. Metcalf
April 23, 2013
Wisdom: The Path of a Young Man
Wisdom is applied knowledge. Someone who is wise uses the knowledge taught to them by their mentors and discovers new pieces of knowledge. Throughout this unit, my definition of wisdom has not changed, but instead, has expanded. At first, I thought wisdom only had to do with interactions with other people and common sense, but I learned that it also had to do with spiritual things.
Section 1: Wise ways of the world
Okonkwo is not a person with common sense. He attempts to shoot one of his wives in a fit of fury during the Week of Peace, something that is frowned upon by the Igbo society. If he had more common sense, he would not have attempted to shoot his wife, no matter how mad he was, and instead, he could have isolated himself from his family in his quarters so he didn’t have to hurt anybody or even attempt to do so. Another thing he could’ve done is take deep breaths and think about what he was going to do. He needs to calm down in order to think ahead, and have the Right View, so that he can understand that people have imperfections. Then he should have the Right Intention, which includes having a resistance to anger, something Okonkwo clearly has a problem doing. Being angry all the time clouds up the mental part of life and impairs the ability to do the right things at the right times. Someone can do the right things, but at the wrong time and it seems like he or she did not do the right thing. (194 words)
Section 2: Moral and Intellectual Wisdom
One time when I was a younger child, I had to go through a martial arts test so I could reach my goal of becoming a black belt. It was both physically and mentally demanding, and that’s where I learned that hard work pays off. The test started off with remembering all the techniques from the seventeen previous belts, which wasn’t too hard, but then we had to do boxing, which include jabs, crosses, hook punches, and uppercuts. That was where