It is clear to me that people regularly confuse the meaning of the word “wise” to mean intelligent, smart, or scholarly. While it may be true at times that these qualities apply to a wise person, it is not appropriate to say that the words are synonymous. All smart, intelligent, scholarly people are not wise. Some are, but some aren’t.
To say that someone is wise is to indicate that a person has qualities that make them special beyond intelligence. They have within themselves the capability of inspiration. Their thoughts and suggestions are capable of inspiring a person to make good decisions, achieve respect, or attain high honor.
Another way of saying that is to say that a person is sagacious. You can see the word sage embedded within the word sagacious. The person being identified is capable of providing sage advice. The sagacious person does not identify (himself) in that way; to the contrary, (he) is the recipient of the identifying term. Others have seen (him) to be a wise person to be honored, believed, and trusted.
In Native American culture the wise man is identified as being the one within the community who contains the historic story of the people, the understanding of the meaning of that history, and the ability to translate that wisdom into decisions necessary for a successful future. He is sagacious. People come to (him) for advice…and then they trust the advice they have been given. It is not unusual that the wise man in Native American culture is older, perhaps elderly.
A culture which values its elders is one which prospers. The elders not only know of the experience of the people; they also know of the character and moral structure of the people. That is what it means to be wise. That is what is meant by being a sagacious person.
Photo Credit: wise person
