The master was pleased whenever someone recognized his own ignorance. He taught that wisdom grows with awareness of what one does not know.
His explanation was simple: if today you can see that you were not as wise yesterday as you believed, then today you are wiser.
Source: Anthony de Mello, “Wisdom,” One Minute Wisdom, PDF p. 113. Retold.
What it argues
A visible mistake can be evidence of progress. Wisdom is not never having been wrong; it is increasing your ability to detect where you were wrong.
Use it for: intellectual humility, changing one’s mind, learning, and uncertainty.