«A person must be intelligent!»

D.S. Lihachev "Letters of the good and the beautiful"

        A person must be intelligent!

       But if his profession does not require intelligence? But if he

could not get an education: the circumstances were like this?

       But if the environmentdoes not allow? But if intelligence

makes him a black sheep among his co-workers, friends,

relatives, and it will simply interfere with his rapprochement

with other people?

   No, no and NO! Intelligence is necessary in all the circumstances.

    It is needed both for people around and for the person himself.

       It is very, very important, above all, in order to live happily and for a long time - yes, to live a long life! Because intelligence is equal to moral health, and health is needed to live long - not only physically, but also mentally.

       Many people think: an intelligent person is one who has read a lot, received a good education (and even mostly humanitarian), traveled a lot, knows several languages.

       Meanwhile, you can have all this and be unintelligent, and you can not possess anything of mentioned above to a large extent, but still be an internally intelligent person.

Education cannot be confused with intelligence. Education lives on the old content, intelligence - the creation of the new and the awareness of the old as new one.

       Moreover ... Deprive a truly intelligent person of all his knowledge, education, deprive him of his memory. Let him forget everything in the world, he will not know the classics of literature, he will not remember the greatest works of art, he will forget the most important historical events,

but if at the same time he retains his susceptibility to intellectual values, his love for acquiring knowledge, interest in history, and aesthetic flair, he will be able to distinguish a real work of art from just a “gismo” made only to surprise; if he can admire the beauty of nature, understand the character and personality of another person, enter his position, and having understood a person be able to help him, he won’t show rudeness, indifference, gloating, envy, but will fully appreciate the other; if he shows respect for the culture of the past, skills of a well-mannered person, responsibility in solving moral issues, richness and accuracy of his language - spoken and written, - this will be an intelligent person.

      Intelligence is not only in knowledge, but in the ability to understand the other. It manifests itself in a thousand and a thousand trifles: in the ability to argue respectfully, to behave modestly at the table, to imperceptibly help others, to take care of nature, in the ability not to litter around yourself - not to litter with cigarette butts, with swearing or with bad ideas (this is also rubbish, and what a big rubbish!).

       I knew the Russian North peasants who were truly intelligent. They kept an amazing cleanliness in their homes, knew how to appreciate good songs, knew how to tell stories which happened to them or others, lived in an orderly way of life, were hospitable and affable, treated with understanding both the grief of others and someone else's joy.

Intelligence is the ability to understand, to perceive, it is a tolerant attitude towards the world and towards people.

       Intelligence needs to be developed and trained in ourselves - mental strength, as well as physical ones should be trained. And Training is possible and necessary in all conditions.

Training physical strength contributes to longevity - this is clearly understandable. It is less understandable that training of spiritual and mental strength is necessary for longevity.

      The fact is that the evil and angry reaction to the environment, the rudeness and misunderstanding of others is a sign of mental and spiritual weakness, human inability to live ...

Only weak and nervous person will push others in a crowded bus, he is exhausted, and react incorrectly to everything. A person who does not know how to live, deaf in his soul - quarrels with neighbors. Aesthetically unresponsive man is also a miserable man. He who fails to understand another person, who ascribes only evil intentions to him, who is always offended by others, is also a person who impoverishes his life and interferes with others' life. Mental weakness leads to physical weakness. I am not a doctor, but I am convinced of this.

Long experience has convinced me of this.

       Friendliness and kindness make a person not only physically healthy, but also really beautiful. Yes, exactly beautiful.

       A person’s face, distorted by anger, becomes ugly, and the movements of an evil person are devoid of grace - not a deliberate grace, but a natural one, which is much more valuable.

       The social duty of a person is to be intelligent. It is a duty to himself. This is a pledge of his personal happiness and “aura of benevolence” around him and towards him (that is, addressed to him).