smarts

Today I said something that I found very philosophical...

It's easy for a person to be intelligent, but it's much harder for them to be smart.

Allow me to explain...

What I'm saying is that a person can be brilliant, an Einstein of sorts, but if they can't apply it or perfom then they are worthless. I have a friend who is probably the most intelligent kid I have come to know. (By SAT standards anyway.) This same friend is the one everyone worries will flunk out of college. Not because he isn't smart or is stupid, but because he is lazy and is a major procrastinator.

There are plenty of other cases where intelligence doesn't signify smarts.

Plenty of people are intelligent enough to know how dangerous it is to drink excessively, but when it comes time to make the smart decision, their intelligence falls by the wayside.

Other lack of smarts scenarios often involve people we associate with.

We can know that a person is no good for us, know that they are bringing us down, or know that they just aren't a good person...but when it comes time to be smart and rid ourselves of them we suddenly forget all those truths we were once so sure of.

I like to think of myself as an intelligent person. (Call me an optimist too if you must.)

But I'll admit that I'm not always smart. When it comes to right and wrong and good versus evil I'm usually right and good, but when it comes to making the smart decision about people I sometimes fall short.

It's good to be intelligent, but it is better to be smart.

Make the smart decision, usually you will find that the smart decision and the right one are one in the same.

NP: Piano Man- Billy Joel