Genius lasts longer than beauty. That accounts for the fact that we all take such pains to over-educate ourselves. In the wild struggle for existence, we want something that endures, and so we fill our minds rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place. The thoroughly well-informed man—that is the modern ideal. And the mind of the thoroughly well-informed man is a dreadful thing. It is like a bric-a-brac shop, all monsters and dust, with everything priced above its proper value.

 

From “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde

 

 

Genius lasts longer than beauty; we all know that. And we also know one can never know too much. But as Oscar Wilde points out in this brilliant paragraph, knowledge for the sake of knowledge is worthless. Knowledge to accomplish a goal, to understand what goes on around us, and to help others are the types of information that really matter.  Knowledge should make the wise humble because there is always so much to learn. Yet, how many people have you met who hide behind conceit their lack of wisdom?