Learning and Wisdom

A Word in Season: Messages by R.J. Rushdoony on the Faith for All of Life · May 24, 2026 · 3m

A very old and vital distinction going back at least to Solomon is the difference between learning and wisdom. Learning is the accumulation of facts, information, and schooling, and our age is overflowing with it; experts and specialists dominate society, expanding knowledge at a rapid rate. But learning alone is not enough, and without wisdom it simply produces learned fools more dangerous than ignorant ones. Some of the wisest people have had little formal schooling, yet possessed the humility and discernment that learning often lacks, for “a wise man will hear, and will increase learning”…