Wisdom and Control

       'A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.' – George R. R. Martin


       A sharp mind is the mark of a strong person, of someone who is in complete, unyielding control of his being. 
       A sharp mind is the result of a lot of work – and work of the kind most people yearn not to do. Obviously, I am not referring solely to a large and varied background in the reading vocation. Allow me to elaborate... If one is to ever reach a state where wit rises victorious above folly, one must – and I cannot possibly over-stress how hugely important this is – shed that comfortable naïveté most people seem to find so dear to their hearts. In other words, you need to try and take a small peek outside that overly optimistic bubble of yours.
       Take a small first step and try to see the world a bit more clearly... Good... There's a good little free person in the making. Now... You shall not forget, of course, that your attempt to break the shackles of narrow-mindedness and self-absorption will most likely fail to reap the highly sought-after reward of any great increase in your objective perception of reality. (No, I did not just string words together – there is an inherent logic to that sentence, worry not.) Rather, you may find yourself substituting a convenient set of illusion for a somewhat less attractive myriad of half-truths and meaningless empirical data. 
       If I have to be honest (and let's face it, why else would I be writing this), I spent a long, long time in just such a state – between knowing that there is something I am not seeing and actually trying to see it. It was a bit later than I would have liked that I reached the blindingly obvious conclusion that one must reflect upon any information gained for it to grow into a thing greater than dead, lifeless fact. A sharp mind is not attained by a simple process of knowledge-gathering, but by the force of subjective conjecture. 
       We must all find our own truths, shape our own realities. Knowledge alone is not enough to make a blind man see, if that knowledge is not felt. When logic and emotion merge, we find that place – however rarely – where clarity is within our grasp.
       Reflect on what you see in this world of ours, my dear, vociferous readers. There is much to be discovered by a cursory glance, and much more still – if you look closely. And only a closer look will bring any of us to greater understanding...
       For wisdom is not a state of the soul. It is not a place. It is not a distant, abstract concept. Rather, it is a long, ever-twisting road with no beginnings and no ends in sight, but for the ones we choose.