'Sapient; Judging Rightly; Having Much Knowledge'

“Let me know what English books you read for your entertainment. You can never be wise unless you love reading.” 

I have known many intelligent men and women, including, of course, many of the readers of this blog. They have been variously well-read, articulate and intellectually incisive. They make for good company because they are seldom strident or humorless. They are averse to cant and unlikely to rely on clichés and fashionable notions. They tend to possess a certain sense of humility, not taking themselves too seriously. Intelligence alone is not wisdom, and neither is knowing a lot of “stuff.” Some of us naturally collect trivia the way pariah dogs collect fleas. Think of true intelligence as mental/emotional nimbleness – a precursor to wisdom. A wise man has learned to apply what he knows to himself and the world around him.

 

The passage at the top is from the September 25, 1770, letter Dr. Johnson writes to his manservant Frances Barber – “Frank” – who served Johnson from 1752 until the writer’s death in 1784. Barber was born a slave on a Jamaican sugarcane plantation in 1742 or 1743. Johnson loved Frank and was always solicitous of him, as the passage suggests. Boswell relied on Frank for information while writing his Life of Johnson.

 

In his Dictionary, Johnson offers five definitions for wise, on the basis of which we can judge Johnson a wise man. First: “sapient; judging rightly; having much knowledge.” That’s indisputable. Johnson knew at least a little about everything, even biology and electricity. Second: “judicious; prudent; practically knowing.” That’s what separates intelligence from wisdom. Third: “skilful; dexterous.” A man may be a genius when it comes to repairing cars. That alone doesn’t make him wise. Fourth: “skilled in hidden arts: a sense somewhat ironical.” No application to Johnson, who was a practical man. Fifth: “grave; becoming a wise man.” Typical but not essential. I think Max Beerbohm was a wise man. So was Whittaker Chambers. A poorly read man, even one who is illiterate, can still possess wisdom.

Johnson writes in the January 19, 1760, issue The Idler: "Every man wishes to be wise; and they who cannot be wise are almost always cunning."