☆ 並非所有人都能夠在同一經歷之中，汲取到同等的經驗。
There are truths which are not for all men,
nor for all times.
( Voltaire )
世界上有一件可悲的事情，
就是有很多人在某方面擁有很多「經歷」，
可惜思考能力不足，汲取到的經驗只不過屬於中層次，
但他們卻往往沾沾自喜，覺得自己非常有「經驗」。
事件有不同的複雜程度，
有時只不過是程序或人際關係複雜，
有時則是背後要求的思維抽象，難以理解。
一般人都能夠從簡單的經歷中學習到屬於低層次的經驗，
但要從一件複雜的事件之中汲取高層次的經驗，
就必須具備高層次的智慧，懂得對真理謙卑，
懂得對挫折尊敬的精神。
We must forgive fools because
they always learn in the hard way,
they like to repeat their mistakes,
they enjoy thorns rather than advices,
and they are collectors of bad experiences.
But we must not forgive ourselves if
we allow fools to shoulder responsibilities
which are beyond their limits.
Mediocre people are better than the fools
but they also let their experience pass by
without giving much thought to it.
They had the experience
but they did not learn their lessons well.
People who do not have enough wisdom
will never know the value of a moment
until it becomes a memory.
Wise people learn fast and deep from
their own personal experience as well as
from somebody else’s experience.
Good judgment comes from good experience.
Good experience comes from intelligence
coupled with learning from past experience
either personally or vicariously.
It seems that the capacity of learning from
a difficult experience is one of the rarest
gifts of genius, attained by humble folks
only by long and arduous training.
( Jason Ling )
智慧高的人跌落地之後，會抓起一把金沙 [朱古力？]，
永遠不會空著雙手站起來。
Where you stumble and fall, there you will find gold.
( Joseph Campbell )
所以我們要虛心地請教有智慧的人，
中國傳統民間智慧有這樣的說法：
「聽君一席話，勝讀十年書！」《老殘遊記》(劉鶚)
從西方文明的角度來看，
就是我們要站在巨人的肩膀上，藉以看得更高和更遠。
If I have seen farther
it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
( Bernard of Chartres )
所以我們要用心去讀歷史，謹慎地反覆思考，
更要用心去讀哲學，增加在高層次認識歷史的能力。
可惜有高層次智慧的人不多。
況且，如果沒有相當的鑑賞力，
智慧放在你的面前，你會有一見鍾情的能力嗎？
Don’t ask a wise man to walk a mile or two
in a fool’s shoes to be more understanding
so that the wise man can love a fool
according to your expectation.
If you want to pretend to be kind,
just tell a fool that nothing teaches him
better than his own experiences,
tell him that mistakes are proof
that he is not idle, that he is trying,
tell him that he is making progress
when he starts making new foolish mistakes,
tell him to appreciate his mistakes
and move on to make as many as possible
because they teach him precious life lessons.
Everytime you smile at a fool, but refuse to
teach him in order to protect his pride,
it is an action of love, a gift to the fool,
a beautiful thing,
because the fool cannot handle subtle truth.
If we love a fool,
we can only tell him to remember one thing:
Be a person of integrity and find solace
in the fortitude of your integrity！
( Jason Ling )
一般社會上愚昧的人「捱過世界」之後，
會覺得自己很了不起，確認自己不是「溫室的花」，
又喜歡告訴青年人自己食鹽多過青年人食米，
但從來都沒有想過自己腦裡裝載的，竟然是「溫室的草」！
那些比較好一點的人，腦裡裝載的，雖然有花亦有草，
但亦有好像塑膠的廢物，
因為他們欠缺思考的訓練，不懂得去蕪存菁，
因為他們只知道有「我 ego」的世界，
不知道有「心靈 soul」的世界。
如果我們不努力培養青年人的鑑賞力，
不對他們的思考能力盡早訓練，
不培養他們發掘及栽培自己的心靈，
反而將花、草和塑膠廢物塞滿了他們的腦袋，
大部份的青年人都會攬著塑膠廢物過一生。
Bad experience is a school
that only fools keep going to.
( Ezra Taft Benson )
Insanity:
doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results.
( Albert Einstein )
當然即使重重覆覆做同樣的事情，結果也可能會不同，
因為時代改變了，環境改變了，人亦改變了。
但有一些真理是不會改變的，所以找出這些真理才會如此重要。
愚蠢人常常會慨嘆：
「何必偏偏選中我？為甚麼受害的總是我？」
並且立即肯定原因完全是由於命運的不公平，
和自己的愚昧及人格無關！
勉強冇幸福，勉強愚蠢人去追求智慧，彼此都冇幸福！
所以哲學家 Immanuel Kant 清楚地指出：
But although all our knowledge begins with experience,
it does not follow that it arises from experience.
很多時不幸的事情在一個人的身上，
會不斷地歷史重演，直到他學習到箇中的道理為止！
處世中極為重要的待人接物和溝通技巧，
雖然與天份有關，雖然與學習和培訓有關，
但亦需要不斷磨練，在不停碰釘子之中吸取經驗教訓。
但對智力平庸的愚蠢人來說，不管他如何用功努力，
他都無法從書本、電影或者 youtube 中，
學習到待人接物和溝通技巧。