Last week I posed these questions:

• What is wisdom? Who is wise? How do you know it when you ‘see’ it?
• Can one person find another person wise even as someone else does not?
   How does that work?
• Can one call oneself wise? If so, what happens to virtues like humility (for
   example)?
• What else comes up for you related to wisdom and what it is or is not?

Your replies have been wonderful…from single sentences to scholarly articles. Some themes: applied knowledge, benefit to all concerned, nature, intuitive knowing, humility, listening, empathy, and compassion.

Thank you so very much! Here’s a sample:

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….part of wisdom is the ability to listen…and be open to the fact that all things are connecting or speaking to you if you are humble enough to listen.
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For me wisdom IS humility. It is the true understanding that we know very little (nothing?) in this life, and the calling is to be and stay completely open. Wisdom is being comfortable and accepting in that place of knowing nothing.
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The wisest people I know tend to constantly question and challenge their own wisdom, while the least wise do not. Humility seems to be interwoven into the very fabric of wisdom.
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Your Kaleidoscope says enough for me, especially the sense that you do not have a grasp on wisdom. That could be the essence of wisdom. Humility in the realization of the lightness around the unknowable; something that stands out in illuminating our uncommon gifts through common lenses.
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For me, wisdom is knowing how to apply data and knowledge in ways that make life better for all concerned.
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Knowing without knowing exactly how you know.
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It is very difficult to describe. I see it everywhere in nature. It’s usually defined as knowledge gained from experiences over time, but I believe it’s much more than that. I don’t think it can develop without empathy. It’s an unchallengeable, ego-defeating, collective-awareness. I think it was Fred Rogers who mentioned the state of ‘profound simplicity.’ I’ve always associated that with wisdom.
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Photo: In our kitchen.