Do you think it is age or experience that gives a person wisdom?

Question

or maybe a combination of both, or something else ?

Answers appreciated....in anticipation.

In addition, I just love this quote from Mark Twain:
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."
Maybe wisdom does not come with age or experience, but for a person to have the natural ability (irrespective of age) of foresight ?

Answer 1

There are many sad souls out there who will never have wisdom, but they will have many experiences.

For those who don't understand what wisdom is, I think is is the ability to use your common sense, if you happen to have common sense.

Wisdom and common sense are not that related to having knowledge.

I have a poem that I have framed for my relative who is "Thee" all knowledgeable Professor.

"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom, one helps you make a living,
the other helps you make a life."
James Oppenheim

Thanks for the question.

Answer 2

it definately comes with experience, which of course takes time, which is aging. I think Mark Twain (at 14) was like most of us, we think we know it all, and constantly think the older generation could never relate to us or know what we're going through. Yet every single generation, has rebelled in thier own way against the last. It definately is a combination of both, that's why those mystic wise men depicted throughout history have always had very long white beards, hair and many age lines or wrinkles.

Answer 3

I think that as you age, the amount of experiences that you had to go through and endure is what gives a person wisdom.
As you get older,you can look back and see your mistakes in the past and you can realize how not to make those same mistakes in the future.This also goes with your choices of who you choose to be your partner.Please trust me on this.I've had my fair share of trauma and dysfunction already in my life and I'm only 37.I could tell you stories that you would never believe but they are all true.Iám a true trauma survivor who is starting over with a new life and new focus for a better future.

Answer 4

I think that "hopefully" with age comes wisdom with the experineces you've had. Sometimes you can be old and still not have had many experiences, which in turn doesn't really up your wisdom because you've lived your life isolated from real world situations. Also, you can be a kid who's been through tremendous ordeals and pain and have much wisdom because of that experience. So a definitive answer, in my opinion, can't really be given.

Answer 5

I'm not really sure what constitutes 'wisdom'. But there is a certain kind of knowledge and insight that comes only with age. When I was younger I always thought older people were interesting to talk to because they saw things differently.

Often they had answers that just seemed self-evident, and I'd think to myself 'Why didn't -I- think of that!'

Other times they had insights in to situations that were new to me, but they'd seen them before--for instance, anyone who lived through the Vietnam War would have a different understanding of the War in Iraq. Anyone old enough to remember the stock market crash of 1929 would see the crash of 1987 in a different light.

Also, being 'middle aged' now myself, I realize my brain doesn't work as good as it used to. Learning new things is harder, and it happens lots of times that I can't think of a word. So it can't be age, it must be experience. 8^)

Answer 6

Some people are certainly wiser than others. Experiences help to make you learn. But I have known some young people who have been wise beyond their years. And I"ve seen some really stupid old people. So it is definitely not just age.

I think some people are born with an old soul and come into life with a wise outlook. I think they have been reborn a number of times and each time through this physical plain we grow wiser. I think of myself as an old soul so maybe a few more time through and I'll be done.

Answer 7

Well if you think about it: With age, comes experience. As the years go on, you experience more and more about true life, which gives you the experience you need to create wisdom. So really, you can't much have one without the other.

Answer 8

Both or living long enough to experience different things at different times of your life. You have to keep an open mind and participate fully in life to gain wisdom. Reading helps, too--more than you'd think.

Answer 9

I think it is experience that ultimately gives you wisdom, a 30year old could have travelled the world and experienced many things in their life, and an 80year old could have never left the country he was born in and lived a miserable boring life

Answer 10

It has got to be experience because some older people are not all ways wise .But some younger people who have been through a lot can be very wise