Not till the fire is dying in the grate, Look we for any kinship with the stars. Oh, wisdom never comes when it is gold, And the great price we pay for it full worth: We have it only when we are half earth.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Wisdom arrives when ambitions fade and we accept our human limitations. It is not a valuable commodity but a state of being grounded.
- In plain terms
- Wisdom comes when we stop chasing wealth and accept being human.
- What can you take from it?
- Accepting mortality opens the door to true wisdom.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When have you felt wisest?
- What do you lose when you gain wisdom?
Another view
It suggests wisdom requires suffering or decline which is not always true.
More from George Meredith
Speech is the small change of Silence.
Permalink to quote #27 And if I drink oblivion of a day, So shorten I the stature of my soul.
Permalink to quote #29 God's rarest blessing is, after all, a good woman!
Permalink to quote #26
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