Wisdom and Proverbs

Penny wise pound foolish.

Take care of your pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

What are these two statements called?

It seems that these two proverbs are some kind of opposites of each other.

I am sure there must be more such pairs of proverbs that seem to say the opposite things.

What is the moral of this short exploration?

It is very hard to give general advice. So, pieces of general advice may contradict each other. Hence, just having read plenty of proverbs does not make one wise.

Seeking knowledge and skills forms a context in which wisdom can exist. Seeking advice, even seemingly contradictory advice, is gaining knowledge about pre-packaged wisdom. Using all the knowledge as appropriate for the context is wisdom.

Wisdom isn't knowing a lot of proverbs; wisdom is knowing when to use which one.

What are all the factors that may contribute to proverbs giving seemingly contradictory advice?

Based on our discussion, write a two page article for any reader who is not privy to this conversation.

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