Okay, let’s acknowledge upfront this can quickly get deep into semantics so stay with me and put aside that debate for a while please, and at least provisionally accept that intelligence is your innate mental ability and smart is about how will you DEPLOY that ability in the real world. Intelligence helps you read deep books, smart helps you ‘read a room’, the classic book smart v. street smart divide. 

Smart pretty much boils down to mastering critical thinking skills, continuously deepening your self-awareness, and enthusiastically embarking upon a life-long pursuit of emotional intelligence. Becoming smart (and seeking wisdom) is a journey, not a destination however I assure you it is a fascinating, invigorating path to trod.

There is greatness to be found within all of us, just some spend more time mining it, honing it, sculpting it. What will YOU choose to do with this one, bright, shining precious gift of life you’ve been given? To give anything less than your best is to waste the gift.

Closing Quotes:

“The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790

“Intelligence is the ability to solve problems; wisdom is the ability to avoid them.” – Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” – William James, 1842-1910

“Intelligence is the ability to understand many ideas. Wisdom is the ability to identify the few ideas worth understanding.” – Mark Manson, b. 1984

“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” – Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, ‘The Triumph of Stupidity’ (1933)

As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier

Note: Every effort has been made to properly source any 3rd person material. I am, however, a voracious reader. If anyone finds any unattributed material, pls let me know asap and I will be delighted to give credit where credit is due.
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832