Not too much wisdom – L’Osservatore Romano

06 June 2026

Don’t be too fair and don’t show yourself wise beyond measure: why do you want to ruin yourself? Don’t be too wicked and don’t be foolish. Why do you want to die before your time? (Ecclesiastes, 7, 16-17) Words of great discernment, which push us to live with balance and moderation, without becoming intoxicated with too much wisdom, and which would open the way to infinite practical reflections, linked to the contingencies of life. In short, we must guard against living like “the pious fool” of whom the rabbinic tradition speaks; figure that we often embody, even unconsciously, when we protect ourselves from the changing events of life in the name of rigid religious norms. Finally, Saint Jerome can come to our aid with his acute interpretation of this passage: «If you see someone rigid and hostile in the face of the sins of their brothers, know…