GAURAVSIKKA.COM

Photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman has put together a fascinating Wisdom project to facilitate passing knowledge onto the next generation by collecting insights from luminaries such as Desmond Tutu, Graham Nash, Jane Goodall, Wole Soyinka, Robert Redford, Nelson Mandela, Ravi Shankar and many others who have made a mark on the world.

Here are some more perspectives on wisdom from famous philosophers and literary figures:

“Wisdom begins in wonder.” —Socrates

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” —George Bernard Shaw

“It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.” —Henry David Thoreau

“The perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambitions to our capacities, we will then be a happy and a virtuous people.” —Mark Twain

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” —Mohandas K. Gandhi

For me, wisdom is the ability to use intuition, humanity and steadfastness to seek creative solutions and also to confront deep-set fears with a belief in oneself to prevail.

Please share your take on the Wisdom project and what it means to you.

EDIT: I watched this video a week after I first saw it and was struck by a new revelation—to me, WISDOM IS THE ABILITY TO FIND INNER PEACE.

That’s it! How one describes inner peace though is up for contention.