In one scene, Little Finger, a lord who operates a brothel challenges the queen with the fact that he knows things that might be embarrassing to her. In an effort to leverage his information to his advantage he whispers in her ear, knowledge is power. The queen took a step back, smiled and commanded the guards to seize him. Within seconds, the guards who had been accompanying the queen, had him restrained. She then commanded them to slit his throat. Each guard drew their blade. One blade was quickly placed at Little Finger's neck. Before the guard could cut his throat, the queen nonchalantly decided that she had changed her mind. She then ordered the guards to let him go, take three steps back, turn around and close their eyes. The guards quickly did what she commanded leaving Little Finger shaken up. The queen casually leaned to Little Finger and whispered, "Power is power."
That exchange provided a quick reality check. We often hear the saying that knowledge is power. It is a cool saying but an idiot with a willingness to work beats a lazy genius on most days. It is a fools errand to leverage knowledge if you are not in a position to make it useful. We have been duped to believe that our opinions matter. While our assessment of things might affect our relationships and choices it is our ability and willingness to create change that matters.
Please don't misinterpret what I am trying to say. I am not trying to shun book learning. I would like to believe that I am an educated man full of wisdom. But, we should use our knowledge to maximize our abilities. Your opinion and knowledge about things have a place but your ability to make things happen is much more relevant.
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