Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.
The wise man rendered wiser by instruction
It is an infallible mark of true wisdom, to profit by instruction.
I. Take a more accurate view of the wise man; and inquire who it is that may be taken for such.
1. He who proposes to himself some end in what he does, and pursues that end in a rational and dexterous manner.
2. A truly wise man is the same as a good man.
3. He who to his resolution to make the attainment of moral goodness the great object of his existence adds a fixed and unalterable determination to pursue this according to Divine direction.
II. Instruction may be given even to the advantage of the wise.
1. No truly wise man will account it impossible to make accessions to his wisdom.
2. Every wise man, whatever be the nature of his wisdom, will wish it to be increased as much as possible.
3. Whenever instruction is given to him which is adapted to his character and circumstances he will account himself happy in having it, and will be the better for it.
III. When instruction is given to a wise man, he will yet be wiser.
1. He will endeavour to find out the motive of the person giving it.
2. He will consider the nature and tendency of the instruction or advise given.
3. He will pray that God may give him to see what is most valuable, and that He may influence his heart to profit by what is good. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The wise are willing to learn from any one
President Lincoln once said that he was willing to learn from any one who could teach him anything. Dore seems to havehad a like spirit. Some years ago, a clever young Englishwoman--something more than an amateur artist--was brought one day by some friends to Dore’s studio. Unlike most Englishwomen, this was a very impulsive and irrepressible young person; and she offered the frankest criticism of all the works around. The picture on which Dore was then engaged occupied her attention particularly; and not content with recommending various improvements, shesuddenly caught the brush from the artist’s hand, and saying coolly, “Don’t you think, Mr. Dore, that a touch of this kind would be an improvement there?” she actually altered the artist’s work with her own audacious fingers. Her friends were rather astonished, and one of them afterwards took occasion to apologise to him for her impulsiveness. Dore seemed only surprised to find that any apology or explanation should be considered necessary. He thought there was some justice in the suggestion thus practically made, and it seemed to him quite natural that one artist should help another. It did not seem to have occurred to him that there was anything presumptuous in the volunteer effort of the young beginner to lend a helping hand to one of the most celebrated and successful artists of the day.
