"The heart is wiser than the intellect."

.....After all these years, one wonders whether or not any wisdom has been achieved; that is, wisdom that can be passed on to others who are in need of it. Yesterday, RH+ and I dined at a Chinese restaurant and I couldn't wait until we got the fortune cookies to see if there was anything wise in them that I might be able to use. However, I ordered lobster in black bean sauce and I didn't want to rush though a dish I like to savor. I wolfed down the chocolate ice cream I got for dessert and then Rhoda opened the fortune cookies--we were lucky--we got four of them containing the great wisdom of China, and these are what we got:

"You know where you are going and how to get there." Very wise, but I couldn't use it because I've already gotten there. Next was, "You are an outgoing and fun person." This didn't strike me as being a wise saying; in fact it is incorrect--I'm not very outgoing, and I doubt that I am considered 'fun'. Still looking for wisdom, we got "You are what you do, not what you say." Of course, this could be considered wise, but I'm not so sure about it because I can't interpret the full meaning. And finally we got, "You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life." This, a great disappointment. I never figured myself being a crispy noodle, especially in a 'vegetarian salad', since I'm definitely not a vegetarian. If these 'wise sayings' out of our fortune cookies represent Chinese wisdom gathered over 5000 years, then one wonders what in the world they were doing all that time.

.....Well, perhaps we were in the wrong Chinese restaurant. Either that or the owners were Korean; hard to tell. I don't remember learning Korea being a source of wisdom. What I was looking for was something like the following:

"A road twice traveled is twice as long." Very wise, but tiring. "A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner." Could be wise, but suggests sea-sickness to get there. "Never exaggerate your faults. Your friends will attend to that." Don't see any wisdom here. I would never discuss my faults because I'm not sure what they are. Or, "When you read about the evils of drinking, give up reading." Now, finally some wisdom! I wonder if Confucius came up with that one. I guess I've lived long enough to acquire a bit of wisdom myself without having to go looking for it. It's good to have some; one is in great need of it to get through life but don't look for it in fortune cookies. Now, there's wisdom.