WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

‘He who does not know one thing knows another’

It is almost impossible for someone to know everything in life. You may know a bit of many things but it is impossible for someone to know everything about everything in life (except if you are the creator of yourself and everything in life).

Our ancestors believe that a person cannot be called a fool because he/she does not know something. A fool is someone who does not know anything but claims to know everything. It is not compulsory for someone to know everything, but it is necessary for one to know at least one thing and endeavor to know it well.

So, learn how to identify what you know, appreciate it and strife to know it well. Experts, professionals, specialists are not people who know many things; they are ordinary people who choose to study and do one thing, then spend the rest of their life by applying their knowledge( in a particular field) to solve many things.

People who claim to be intelligent or wise because they know many things are usually not very effective in life. They spend the greater part of their life in studying many things and fail to apply their knowledge to life. It is better to know one or few things that would reproduce or transform many things than to know many things that are practically equal to nothing. There are many people in the world today who are so anxious about knowing everything to the extent that they end up knowing nothing.

What do you know?

How knowledgeable are you in it?

How beneficial is your knowledge to humanity?

These three questions should be the major factors that influence your achievements in life. You are not yet an achiever if you fail to answer any of the questions positively.

An African who does not know how to speak good English should not be seen as an idiot or illiterate because it does not take only English language to be a literate. If you choose to study and speak your language, it is advisable that you study it thoroughly and speak it stylishly or eloquently so as to encourage others to learn it. The English that you study, read and speak today had once been seen as an inferior language by several scholars, but the inability of some people to see the language as inferior makes it the global language of today. American English had once been considered as substandard English, but today more people speak and use American English than the Queen’s English.

Whenever people castigate you for what you don’t know, instead of being angry or discouraged, show them what you know and let them respect you for what you know. Remember, he who does not know one thing may be an expert in another.

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