Alain de Botton : The School of Life
Attain Wisdom: Philosophy teaches us to be Wise!
Realism : The wise rarely expect anything to be wholly easy or to go entirely well.
Appreciation : Wise people can know how to draw the full value from the peaceful and the sweet, whenever and wherever these arise.
Folly : Whatever be the wisdom, Humans are never far from folly. They are unsurprised by the coexistence of deep immaturity and perversity alongside intelligence and morality. We are barely evolved apes.
Humor : Wise take the business of laughing at themselves and their conclusions.
Politeness : Wise are aware that it is difficult to change people's minds. They will search for what people have common in them than for what seperates. (I am reminded of the Venn Diagram - 2-circle- one representing me - other representing the Other person - both of whom operating under the framework of system defined by the rectangle - I need to focus on overlapping zone - AnB-Zone!)
Self-acceptance : Wise have made peace with the yawning gap between how ideally they want to be and what they are actually like. They have shed so much pride.
Forgiveness : Wise are slow to judge and anger. Most hurt is not intentional but a byproduct of the constant collision of blind competing egos in a world of scarce resources. They feel less persecuted by aggression and meanness of others.
Resilience : Wise know how much can go wrong and things will just be livable.
Envy : The wise don't envy idly, realizing that there are some good reasons why they don't have many of the things they really want. Wise appreciate the role of luck and don't curse themselves overly at those junctures.
Success and Failure : Many fundamentals remain unchanged in success and failure. This is both cautionary for those who succeed and hopeful for those who won't. Success and Failure is another byproduct of Modern consumer capitalism.
Regrets : are unavoidable; They arise because we all lack the information we need to make the choices in time-sensitive situations.
Calm : Wise know that turmoil is round the corner! A day without anxiety is something to be celebrated.
