What is the price of wisdom?

Question

If you consider yourself a wise person, what price did you pay to gain your wisdom?

Answer 1

time, wisdom takes time in nearly every shape, form, or instance. time is the equity of wisdom and the more equity you have, often times the more wisdom you can acquire.

learning to be humble, understanding, compassionate, passionate, and possess the ability to see all sides and aspects of a situation, and be able to understand them to some degree, even if you do not agree with it.
Wisdom also cost in the knowledge of doing it right, ensuring its done right, and not allowing a inferior or half baked method or fix to transpire even if it costs more, takes more time, and might be more taxing or complicated.

Answer 2

is anyone really wise. wise represents someone with great common knowledge, even though some would say I am wise, others will not see me that way. The only wisdom that you can truly gain is within you, self awareness and self revelation are the first steps, then emancipation of the conscience, this will set your mind free to explore knowledge on a different level. Although this could be classed as wise, for you have released yourself from common ideological constraints, others that are still subjugated by the ruling train of thought, the norm'! will not see this as wisdom, others that have done the same as you might have come to a different conclusion on their own, thus they will not agree. wisdom, it is the great knowledge of the common view, but the view changes within different groups of society, thus no-one is ever really classed as wise among all people.

Answer 3

I do not believe it should be the nature of the wise person to consider herself wise. Indeed, as she becomes more wise, she will actually be understanding just how little she knows. Now, clearly, I put myself in a Catch-22, so I'll just say that I'm learning to become wise...

However, in response to your question... Does it really matter? Philosophers are supposed to be lovers of wisdom, and so it shouldn't be a sacrifice at all. Do you consider it a sacrifice to spend the money that you've saved up for a long time in order to go on that road trip, or to buy that new car, or to go to school? No way! It's not even a question in your mind. So I don't necessarily think of it as a price to pay.

According to Plato (or Socrates, depending on how you look at it) in his Republic, he writes that the wise person is giving up the physical pleasures of life in order to attain the intellectual pleasures of learning and wisdom, but he also states that those physical pleasures are actually the result of getting rid of the physical pains of needing something. Meaning, you're not happy because you ate, you're happy because you're no longer hungry. So really, all the wise person must give up, her price to pay, is actually all the physical pains.

So it's really not a price at all.

Answer 4

There is no monetary price on wisdom. Experiencing life is the how we gain wisdom.

The price I paid to gain wisdom was through a hard, and difficult life. I had it all, wealth, and health. For twenty years I suffered in an abusive marriage, mentally, and physically. I had beget 7 beautiful boys. It took me 20 years to overcome my fear of leaving my wealthy ex.

By the time I did leave him, I was to weak emotionally, mentally and physically to fight him in court for any monetary settlement. I told him I would leave my beautiful home, and all it's possessions, if he would amicably let me have full custody of my children.

Two years after my divorce I had an emergency heart operation lasing 7 hours, for a heart condition I developed due to the 20 years of abuse. the doctors gave me a 25% chance to live. Well I miraculously pulled through.

It is now 23 years later. I raised my children on my own. They all have high self esteem, value the "small" things in life, know right from wrong.

The wisdom that I gained is not to live in fear of any one, you have to respect yourself in order for people to respect you. I have also learned that personal health, healthy children, and pride from your children are the most important things in life.

What price did I pay for my wisdom you ask. I compensated my health, l lived an abusive life for 20 years.

Answer 5

Wisdom is but a goal -- an unreachable goal. The best that can be hoped for is some degree of closeness with wisdom.

The price for the journey to wisdom is the acceptance of the outcome of rational inquiry, even if the outcome is a determination that you don't like.

Answer 6

i only paid a price for i guess around 60-70% of the wisdom i have today. and the only price i had to pay were the bitter and sorrowful experiences life had thrown at my feet to test as to where will knowledge and understanding lead me to acquire wisdom out of this experience.

the rest of it i gained free from the experiences of others... they say the best wisdom is to be able to know how and when to apply lessons learned from the past and from the experiences of others...

Answer 7

The price is, the responsibility to use the wisdom wisely. And the time you must put in thinking and deciding in order to grow wiser.

Answer 8

The price paid was being stripped of pride at the moment of wisdom's revelation. Which, I believe, was necessary. Now pride wages a constant war to gain lost ground so I must be vigilant.

Answer 9

Stupidity is the cost of wisdom.

BUT just like great wealth can be bought using other peoples money, great wisdom can be bought using other peoples stupidity.

You can always buy more wisdom, so long as you are aware, that you were born with an endless supply of stupidity.

Answer 10

Every cost or price paid is different for each person.

Everything I got in this life, wisdom included transformed a piece of me from what it was into what it is now. So you could say it cost me a piece of my former self. Sometimes it costs you piece of mind, at times money, trust, possessions, friendships, love of others or of self. Sometimes it can coem at the expense of otherrs or you pay with blood.

Depends on the circumstance.