Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Ill WISDOM Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom: and with thy getting get understanding. Proverbs iv. 7. I speak as unto wise men: judge ye what I say. 1 Cor. x. 15. WISDOM There are not many bad men in the world, that is men with a distinctly marked and strongly accentuated element of badness in their constitution; and in this sense the familiar Greek proverb ot iroAAot /caot is certainly not true, though of course it must be borne in mind that Kcikos in Greek usage often means worthless, .and specially cowardly, and not Trovr)p6; or vicious, and in this sense the proverb is unquestionably true that the many are vxniMess, that is, in critical moments and under strong excitement are not much to be relied on. But if, turning pur eyes from the ethical to the intellectual world, we should say Most men are fools, we should be, if still somewhat uncharitable, certainly a little nearer the truth; for that ignorance, an essential ingredient in folly, is more common among men than positive vice, no man can deny. The wise man, though not a less necessary element of the body social than the good man, is doubtless more rare, and on account of this rarity justly held more in esteem ; and not only more rare, as a cairngorm is more rare than the block of granite out of which it was struck, but in certain circumstances so important that any exuberance of mere goodness cannot compensate for its abuse by the lack of wisdom. In the guidance of human affairs, whether public or private, wisdom is in fact the one thing needful for a great success. Happiness may be attained without it in various shapes and in various relations, but not permanent well-being. It is like the helm in the vessel, or the compass, a part of the vessel, not indeed so vital to the idea of ... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.