“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of facts within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity.” – Calvin Coolidge
On Wednesday night, August 22, the Republican Women of Prescott, (RWOP) hosted a speaking engagement by talk show host Dennis Prager. Those who have listened to Mr. Prager know that he is a gentleman with a great sense of humor, a biblical scholar, a deep thinker with a passionate and logical mind, a world traveler and basically a very good and just man. The approximately 1000 people who heard Mr. Prager speak at the Yavapai College theater walked away extolling his presentation, many saying how he exceeded even their high expectations.
It is hard to believe that anyone could walk away from Dennis’s speech without a clearer understanding of wisdom as opposed to knowledge, goodness versus evil, conservatism contesting with far leftism, Marxism and communism. He gave an example of what grown children thought that their parents desired most for their children: Success, Knowledge, Happiness or Goodness. Dennis stated that he had asked people all over the country what they thought their children would answer. Very few people answered “goodness”, which is the best answer. (When Dennis said this, my first thought was that there is a connection between goodness and happiness. But upon further reflection, I remembered in my police career, there are few happier individuals than a burglar or robber after a big score or a gangbanger who just shot a member of another gang).
Mr. Prager made a salient argument that one’s intentions matter significantly less than the outcome. Referring to the old adage that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Dennis said that many of the most evil regimes in the world started with “good intentions”. He referred to the millions killed by communists in the last hundred years.
Using a quote from the Bible, the Book of Deuteronomy, Mr. Prager explained the difference between wisdom and knowledge. In so many words, he explained that wisdom is the ability to see the consequences of one’s actions and to act accordingly.
In an age when our country is at such risk, internally and externally, culturally and economically, it is so good to see that we have a warrior on the side of truth and righteousness like Dennis Prager. His Prager U videos have done so much to confirm for conservatives of the correctness of the views and provides them with documentation to back up their views. These videos also persuade many of those who have been indoctrinated by the left and our educational system, that what they have been brainwashed to believe, is wrong.
His daily radio show not only addresses the politics of our times, but confronts problems we face everyday, like happiness, family, and the interaction between men and women. It is hard to find an individual who is humble, articulate, logical, religious and entertaining while educating his audience. Those who had the pleasure of hearing Dennis Prager speak were rewarded with his wit and wisdom. Others should listen to his daily radio program on local radio station KQNA 1130 AM and read his many books.
