As Otto von Bismarck said, “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” Hindsight is all about looking at the path I travelled along with the mistakes I made to gain a bit of wisdom. I have enough struggle just processing my own mistakes without trying to analyze those of others. Clearly I cannot speak on behalf of those who are wise.
A “wise man” has worked diligently on my behalf in the last few days…first because he didn’t know terribly much about the whole scholarship process – and then he just went into “bat” for me. Upshot is that my blog posts these last few days have gone back, slightly forward, then back and now the “wise man” has provided a positive outcome – he’s a winner…
I don’t think Ramana said “all” wisdom is gained by hindsight. There are people, lucky them, who have an “old” head on their young shoulders. Not that old age necessarily equates wisdom.
I think a better version of the saying is “insight by hindsight” as in “If only I had known what I know now …”. That doesn’t make you wise automatically. My life so far is a mountain of experiences and, well, a molehill of “insights” how not to go about certain things. Brilliant. What do I do with that insight? As, like most people, I only live one life there is rarely a chance of a replay with an amended script. So what do I do with all that “hindsight”? Please don’t say “to not make the same mistake again”. It’s not like that. If you don’t grab the bull by the horns the moment it presents itself that bull aka opportunity may never ever cross your path again. Hindsight will serve you zilch, zero, nothing. At best you are of a disposition to just shrug your shoulders and not dwell on the regret you are bound to feel.
I think the young can often be wiser than their elders because they’re still free of a lot of the prejudices and preconceptions and fixed ways of thinking that we pick up as we get older. A younger person often sees things more clearly and can spot all the lies and half-truths we come out with.
My guess is people who start thinking for themselves when they’re young will continue to do so when they get older. It would be nice to have more of them.
As Otto von Bismarck said, “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” Hindsight is all about looking at the path I travelled along with the mistakes I made to gain a bit of wisdom. I have enough struggle just processing my own mistakes without trying to analyze those of others. Clearly I cannot speak on behalf of those who are wise.
I try to learn from both.
Who believes the wise men? We may think we are before we make mistakes, but we learn each time we screw up, until we get it right.
Unfortunately some people never learn, get it right. 🙁
A “wise man” has worked diligently on my behalf in the last few days…first because he didn’t know terribly much about the whole scholarship process – and then he just went into “bat” for me. Upshot is that my blog posts these last few days have gone back, slightly forward, then back and now the “wise man” has provided a positive outcome – he’s a winner…
I’m so happy you have him!
I can’t very well now disagree can I?
It would be hard. 😀
i don’t know.
That’s always a fine answer with me. 🙂
I don’t think Ramana said “all” wisdom is gained by hindsight. There are people, lucky them, who have an “old” head on their young shoulders. Not that old age necessarily equates wisdom.
I think a better version of the saying is “insight by hindsight” as in “If only I had known what I know now …”. That doesn’t make you wise automatically. My life so far is a mountain of experiences and, well, a molehill of “insights” how not to go about certain things. Brilliant. What do I do with that insight? As, like most people, I only live one life there is rarely a chance of a replay with an amended script. So what do I do with all that “hindsight”? Please don’t say “to not make the same mistake again”. It’s not like that. If you don’t grab the bull by the horns the moment it presents itself that bull aka opportunity may never ever cross your path again. Hindsight will serve you zilch, zero, nothing. At best you are of a disposition to just shrug your shoulders and not dwell on the regret you are bound to feel.
U
And presumably it sometimes works out well?
I think the young can often be wiser than their elders because they’re still free of a lot of the prejudices and preconceptions and fixed ways of thinking that we pick up as we get older. A younger person often sees things more clearly and can spot all the lies and half-truths we come out with.
My guess is people who start thinking for themselves when they’re young will continue to do so when they get older. It would be nice to have more of them.