Tip: It is good to be smart, but it is not good to go around acting smart!
Tip: It is good to be smart, but it is not good to go around acting smart!
Most of us have had the opportunity to become fairly well educated. Someone once said that if you master the 3 R’s (reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic), you will have developed a good foundation upon which to build a good life and future.
Sadly, on a few occasions, I have met individuals who could not read. It is a very dark experience for them not to have basic reading skills. In my travels to other countries, I have seen many signs in languages that I could not read. Yes, I could see the letters or symbols on the signs, but I did not know what they meant. That is what it is like for a person who is not able to read. They can see the letters or the symbols, but they do not know what they mean.
It is also important for us to be able to express ourselves on paper. Whether writing a letter, a thank you note or a paper in school, we should all be able to construct a couple of good sentences!
And, of course, an understanding of arithmetic is incredibly valuable in every day life. Whether we are buying a hamburger for lunch, preparing taxes, looking at a paycheck or planning an investment, numbers play a vital role in all that we do.
A good education is important. I have had the privilege of attending, and graduating, from five different colleges and universities. I have jokingly said that I have learned more and more about less and less until I have finally learned everything about nothing! Even though I joke about how much education I have, I am truly grateful for all I have learned. I think one of the greatest revelations I have had is about how much there still is to learn! I do not feel arrogant or prideful about the knowledge I have attained. Rather, I am humbled by how little I know in comparison to how much information is available. I truly know how much there is to know and how little of all of it I know…you know?
While there is nothing wrong with receiving a good education, it is wrong to become prideful and puffed up about it. It is a natural, human response to resist people who are arrogant. We are “put off” by those who seem intent on making people around them feel small and inferior by flaunting their own knowledge.
As soon as I begin talking to someone who comes across as having a haughty spirit or an arrogant tone, I know that is not someone from whom I want to learn. On the other hand, when I talk to someone who is an expert, but who has the attitude that they are still in the learning process and have room for growth themselves, then I know I have found a real winner who can help me!
Some of the greatest people I have ever been associated with were of the mindset to continually learn and grow. When I lived in Dallas, Texas, I used to sit next to Zig Ziglar in Church and watch him take notes on what was being taught. Rather than being arrogant about his knowledge or position in life, he was a humble learner who wanted to learn all he could about life and other things. It is a real blessing to be around someone who, even though they have a reason to be proud, because of their position in life, yet they have a humble spirit and nature about them. They are all the more attractive because of their desire to learn all they can in order to become a better person.
I know that there are areas of life in which I want to have more information. Reading books is helpful to me, but talking to people who are experts in their field and have lots of personal experience to share is valuable as well.
Let me encourage you to learn all you can in life. Seek to be “smart” in every area in which you find interest, but do not become prideful about what you have already learned. Arrogance is not good for you and it certainly is not good for others.
Tip: It is good to be smart, but it is not good to go around acting smart!
Have a great week! God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm
