A wise man learns from his mistakes; a fool pretends never to have made mistakes.

A wise man considers all the information and makes a decision; a fool makes his decision and manipulates the information to fit.

A wise man finds honor in transparency; facing himself as a whole, including the parts he may not be particularly proud of; a fool hides behind masks and facades, and has no shame.

A wise man can change his mind in the face of new information; a fool makes up his mind, and ignores new information that may call his beliefs into question.

A wise man understands that honor cannot always be silent or passive; a fool attempts to intimidate and harass opposition into silence.

A wise man can admit when he's wrong; a fool will never notice when he's wrong.

A wise man can turn his mistakes into lessons for himself, and for others; a fool just makes the same old mistakes, and considers it a failure of others to fail to tell him how wise he is.

A wise man is confident, but rarely certain; a fool is cocky, but rarely confident.

Wisdom understands its limits; foolishness has no limits.

A wise man acts from love, compassion, and a hope for improvement in the world around him; a fool acts from hate, selfishness, and a fear that the world is improving without him.

A wise man welcomes disagreement as a chance to learn new information, or a chance to exercise the mind in the defense of his position; a fool welcomes disagreement as a chance to intimidate, or a chance to prove that he who screams the loudest wins.

A wise man understands that a free society must be defended to remain free; a fool believes that a free society must defend him to remain free.

A wise man knows that right makes might; a fool thinks that might makes right.

A wise man questions what he is told; a fool accepts it without question and defends it stridently.

A wise man sees violence as a last resport; a fool sees violence as the only resort.

A wise man will criticize himself for lack of adequate knowledge; a fool will criticize others for lack of adequate ignorance.

Here's hoping that you and I can be wise men (and women) more often than not.