The Experienced Man

The inexperienced man defends his ideas for their purity and generosity; the experienced man does not feel much need to defend his ideas.

The inexperienced man prides himself on his ideas; the experienced man is happy he has not yet starved.

The inexperienced man knows how men ought to be; the experienced man knows how men are.

The inexperienced man trusts human beings; the experienced man trusts human nature.

Nature is known through experience; if a man rejects nature, he will always remain inexperienced.

The inexperienced man believes the time for alarm has finally come; the experienced man is the sound of alarm which the inexperienced man cannot hear.

The inexperienced man finds common sense offensive and cruel; the experienced man knows the alternatives to common sense are crueler still.

The experienced man is unimpressed by a few exceptions to the rule.

The inexperienced man speaks of problems, which have answers; the experienced man speaks of temptations, which never go away.

The experienced man tells many stories, but he knows that a cautionary tale has never once prevented anything from happening.

When the inexperienced man borrows, he does well; when the experienced man lends, he does well.

The inexperienced man believes his ideas are pure; the experienced man does not waste time thinking of ways to describe his ideas.

Cynicism is not a sign of maturity, but it is a sign of experience.

The experienced man knows how much is on the line, so he is generous; the inexperienced man does not know how much is on the line, so he is generous.

The inexperienced man wants to be believed; the experienced man wants to be obeyed.

The inexperienced man demands an explanation up front; the experienced men receives his explanation slowly.

The inexperienced man wants to make things better; the experienced man wants to make things last.

A heavy heart keeps the experienced man anchored in place; optimism drives the inexperienced man far from home.

The inexperienced man believes his questions are a sign of his wisdom; the experienced man believes his silence is a sign of his experience.

The inexperienced man hopes to say something interesting; the experienced man hopes to see something interesting.

The inexperienced man readily judges other men cynical; the experienced readily judges other men naïve; Solomon judges the end better than the beginning.