A little learning is a...
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A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. Alexander Pope penned that verse in the early 1700s, centuries after Solomon’s request for wisdom. Both Solomon and Pope understand something that is not always self-evident: A wise man never stops learning. Take the girl who helps her mother make a pie. “I can cook,” she says. So when her mother is gone, she decides to make dinner for the rest of her family. Unfortunately, it takes more than rolling pie pastry and turning on an oven to make a meal. The rest of her family is none too pleased when she serves them burnt chicken and undercooked noodles. A little knowledge gave her the illusion that she knew what she was doing; her failed dinner brought her back down to earth to remind her that she hasn’t learned all there is to know quite yet. Solomon doesn’t ask for knowledge. He asks for something deeper, more meaningful, and worth more than all the gold in the world.
