To think well and to consent to obey someone giving good advice are the same thing.
Interpretation
Thinking critically and following wise advice are intertwined actions.
Herodotus suggests that true wisdom lies not only in the ability to think critically and evaluate ideas but also in the willingness to accept and follow sound advice. This interconnectedness implies that recognizing good counsel reflects a deep understanding and appreciation for wise judgment, making obedience to it a logical reflection of one's own capacity for thought.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a discussion on the importance of mentoring in leadership roles.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
Only a person who has passed through the gate of humility can ascend to the heights of the spirit.
In the same way as the tree bears the same fruit year after year, but each time new fruit, all lastingly valuable ideas in thinking must always be reborn.
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? ... Or does it explode?
It is sound judgment to put on a bold face and play your hand for a hundred times what it is worth; forty-nine times out of fifty nobody dares to call it, and you roll in the chips.
And the quality of good judgement is clearly a form of knowledge and skill, as it is because of knowledge and not because of ignorance that we judge well.
It is not unprofessional to give free legal advice, but advertising that the first visit will be free is a bit like a fox telling chickens he will not bite them until they cross the threshold of the hen house.
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