Step 4 of 9 · Knowledge, Judgment and Uncertainty
The man who thinks he knows everything
Why this step
Now the limit on the learner’s side. In stanzas 26 and 27 the unwise man sits in a sheltered nook thinking he knows everything, and does not know what he would answer if put to the test. Silence can hide that, the stanzas say, but more talk teaches him nothing. They make not knowing something to admit, not to cover over.
The text, stanzas 26–27
26.
The unwise man thinks all to know,
while he sits in a sheltered nook;
but he knows not one thing, what he shall answer,
if men shall put him to proof.
27.
For the unwise man 'tis best to be mute
when he come amid the crowd,
for none is aware of his lack of wit
if he wastes not too many words;
for he who lacks wit shall never learn
though his words flow ne'er so fast.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 26–27 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
From the Lorebook
Sitting in a sheltered corner, the unwise man thinks he knows it all, until someone puts him to the test. Silence hides what he lacks; talking more does not teach him.
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