Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
—Proverbs 26:12
Opinionated. Dogmatic. Cocksure. Inflexible. Someone comes to mind, right? He may be smart as a whip, but as Matthew Henry opined, “the only thing such a person’s knowledge does for him is puff him up.”
Arrogance all but eliminates the possibility of improvement in the know-it-all.
“Everybody is ignorant,” said Will Rogers, “just on different subjects.” Growth comes only to those intelligent enough to be aware of their ignorance, and humble enough to be taught. Part of wisdom is knowing what you don’t know.
“Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?” asked Solomon. “There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov. 26:12).
Conceit is a strange disease—it makes
everyone sick except the one who has it.