I heard a saying:
There are three classes of people. Those who see; those who see when they are shown; those who do not see.
Back in Europe I used to listen patiently and quietly to one of the most wise people I've know, my uncle Victor (really my mom's uncle). He lived in a beautiful place, at the bottom of the Carpathian Mountains; he had a wonderful house (he could keep it because he transformed it in a bed-and-breakfast) with a sunny veranda full of light: we would play cards and backgammon in the afternoon, after he taught me how to graft a rose or an apple tree (he had an amazing garden, and a green-house, all made by him). Every summer we will spend some time at his house, when he had vacancy and those are probably some of the best memories of my childhood.
My uncle had a somewhat similar expression:
There are 4 categories of people:
- Those who know, and they know that they know: those are the wise ones, Listen to them!
- Those who know, but they don't know that they know: those are asleep, Wake them up!
- Those who don't know, and they know that they don't know: those are the ignorants, Teach them!
- Those who don't know, and they don't know that they don't know: those are the stupid ones, Pass them by!
Blessed are those who see - either by themselves (Listen to them!) or when they are shown.
Hi Alicia, Your Uncle is truly a wise man. I love the message he passed onto you.
ReplyDeleteTherese
Thanks, Therese, he was a very wise man, indeed. I a world that was often chaotic he knew how to balance himself and the ones around him!
DeleteChristos a înviat !
ReplyDeleteMă bucur mult pentru reproducerea acestor vorbe înţelepte, dar , fără să mă laud, trebuie să-ţi spun că Unchiul Victor , pentru care şi eu am avut mare admiraţie şi care mi-a fost un mare sprijin în câteva momente foarte grele din viaţă, ştie aceste "vorbe înţelepte" de la mine , fără a-mi aparţine, desigur.
E un proverb pe care eu îl ştiu ca fiind extrem- oriental, pe undeva e trecut ca fiind chinezesc, alteori ca "din înţelepciunea popoarelor".
L-am găsit acum câteva zeci de ani, prin 1967-1969, când eram în primii ani de învăţământ,şi , de atunci , l-am spus ori de câte ori s-a ivit ocazia.
A fost unul din lucrurile pe care le scriam pe tablă sau le dictam elevilor, la clasă, atunci când găseam câteva momente libere şi proverbul -- nu ştiu cum să-l numesc mai potrivit-- îşi găsea locul.
Şi uite încă unul pe care nu ştiu dacă l-ai întâlnit până acum : " Toată viaţa ta să te fereşti de omul prost: ăsta nici înainte nu merge , nici bine nu face şi nici pe tine nu te lasă ! " .
(Din nefericire, de atâtea ori m-am lovit de asemenea situaţii. Dar despre asta mi-ar trebui mult timp să comentez ; poate cu alte ocazii, nu acum, de Paşte).
M-aş bucura să nu fie cazul să aplici vreodată proverbul de mai sus şi urez la fel şi cititorilor blogului tău.
Dacă mai vrei, o să-ţi dau mai multe, am câteva cărţi cu vorbe înţelepte , le iau din când în când, fără o alegere anume şi, unde se deschid, acolo citesc. Este ceva extraordinar, pentru mine face parte din terapia Zen .
Cu mult drag, mama.
Oh, dear - I need to translate this (or parts of it, at least) :)
DeleteMy mom - first she's wishing us a Happy Easter!
Then - she mentiones that her uncle learned these wise words from her, the words not being her either, just passed from generation to generation (in a convoluted way, it seems: from mom to her uncle to me).
She herself learned these words in her few first years of teaching ('67-'69) and since then she used them often, passing it to her own students when it was appropriate (knowing the context of those years, I can only imagine there wasn't hard to find an appropriate moment, quite the opposite :))
She's sharing another (similar saying): In life stay away from the stupid people, they don't advance, they do no good, and stop you from advancing and doing good too!
She's (unresonably so) hoping there weren't any times in my life to apply each - good one, mom :)
Phew - I managed... I think...