High IQ vs Smart vs Wise A high IQ is only potential

High IQ vs Smart vs Wise

A high IQ is only potential. That is all it is. It means you could become smart and wise, but it does not mean you will. It is simply mental horsepower, capacity, not accomplishment. It means you can do things that other people can not, but it does not mean you will do them.

Being smart means you make good decisions quickly, decisions that fit the immediate situation. Many high-IQ people are brilliant in one field yet make foolish choices in the rest of their lives. They neglect their health, dress like children, or fail to manage how they present themselves to others. That is not smart.

Being wise goes further. The wise not only do what the smart do, making good decisions in the moment, but also act with an understanding of the long arc of life. They choose what is good for them decades into the future. The truly wise choose what is good for their descendants, for generations yet unborn. That is wisdom.