Welcome back once again to the quote of the day series. Today's quote has to do with intelligence and how important it is
to obtain all that you can as quickly as possible. And now the quote to slake your thirst for
knowledge:
I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow
- Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
This quote is very important to those seeking to be intelligent individuals. This quote tells us that while intelligence con be found through one's own discoveries, it is not the only source of intelligence out there. Borrowing from the applications and acheivements of others is definitely not a sin. In fact, it's very practical idea. The best example I can give of the benefits of borrowing from the knowledge of others comes in the Roman Emipre. The historically knowledgeable among you will accept as a fact that while many Roman ideas were original, so much of the basics of Roman culture philosophy, and intellect was taken from Greek culture. Using Greek knowledge, and improving on it when they saw neccessary, the Romans were able to sculpt their own unique and creative culture which they applied to life everywhere they went.
This same idea can be used with individuals. Each person on earth is, essentially, a culture of one, and so they have the right, indeed the duty, to borrow information and ideas from other people and spread them around. Years from now people generally won't remember the specific person who built the better mousetrap, but everyone will remember the great benefits that mousetrap gave to society. So, if one borrows a good idea from another and applies it, they help to spread that idea throughout their community, and possibly the world.
It is a widely accepted idea that modern society currently lives in what scholars call
The Age of Information. If this is true, which for the most part it is, then not only is it not a bad thing to borrow ideas from others (note I said ideas , not the entire concept; that of course would be plagarizing) but it is an essential element of modern society which provides an essential
communication to outside peoples. Again, this is true with individuals. Borrowing and giving away ideas is an almost essential element in society and serves as a basis of communication between all sorts of different people, including and especially those separated by the language barrier (neccessity forces them to come up with a common language).
So, if you need an idea for a particular endeavour of yours, ask around and you'll probably get one. Exchange of ideas is the essential basis behind communication. well, that's it for today's quote and I hope to see you tomorrow for another inspirational saying.