The Truism of All Truisms

Think Tank #17

I’ve come up with an expression. The ‘truism of all truisms,’ if you will—one cliché to dwarf all others:

“Wisdom is learning that all the trite little platitudes you used to ignore are actually true.”

Alright, I might’ve oversold the line a little bit. It’s too much of a mouthful to really ‘catch on.’ But it’s true. All those little sayings that are so true that they kind of lose all meaning, so then you forget about them—if you actually follow them, you live a much better life.

“The grass is always greener on the other side.”
“Good things come to those who wait.”
“The best things in life are free.”
“All’s well that ends well.”
“You can’t please everyone.”
“Some things never change.”

I could think of a million others. And they’re all valuable! But they’re so obvious that it’s like they’re not even there. We don’t pay them any attention.

That brings me to another set of truisms that all say more or less the same thing: “enjoy the little things”; “stop and smell the roses”; “seize the day”—you get the point. “Respect your elders”—there’s another one. Good things are built “on the shoulders of giants.”

The point is this—the arrogance of youth tells us to ‘reinvent the wheel’ (another one), figure out everything for ourselves, often through mistakes. But “wisdom is seeing what’s in front of you.”

All the most important things in life have been figured out already. “Pride comes before the fall”—don’t, in youthful arrogance, reject the things that are most obviously true.