WISDOM’S WAY

    Although my highest aim is to grow wise,
    The first thing I should rightly recognize    
    Is that at best I’ll just approximate
    That goal, for few have ever grown so great.

    The first hard step’s to be intelligent,
    Aware of all the ways we can be bent,
    Diverted from the straight and narrow path
    By envy, pride, sloth, gluttony and wrath,
    Plus lechery and greed—more than enough
    Potholes to make the Way to Wisdom rough.

    Perhaps just knowing that perfection’s out
    Of anybody’s reach should make us doubt
    That it’s a goal toward which we should aspire—
    Still, hope of it will drive us ever higher.

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