Frederic Perthes once said to a young friend: "You
know only too well what you CAN do; but till you have learned what
you CANNOT do, you will neither accomplish anything of moment, nor
know inward peace."
Any one who would profit by experience will never be above asking
for help. He who thinks himself already too wise to learn of
others, will never succeed in doing anything either good or great.
We have to keep our minds and hearts open, and never be ashamed to
learn, with the assistance of those who are wiser and more
experienced than ourselves.
The man made wise by experience endeavours to judge correctly of
the thugs which come under his observation, and form the subject
of his daily life. What we call common sense is, for the most
part, but the result of common experience wisely improved. Nor is
great ability necessary to acquire it, so much as patience,
accuracy, and watchfulness. Hazlitt thought the most sensible
people to be met with are intelligent men of business and of the
world, who argue from what they see and know, instead of spinning
cobweb distinctions of what things ought to be.
For the same reason, women often display more good sense than men,
having fewer pretensions, and judging of things naturally, by the
involuntary impression they make on the mind. Their intuitive
powers are quicker, their perceptions more acute, their sympathies
more lively, and their manners more adaptive to particular ends.
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