How to tell if the man's clever, even wise

Listening to the news tonight reminds me of one of the challenges of parenthood - coping with little boys will can't help but exaggerate.

What do you say to a lad of 11 or so who swears his dog spoke to him, or that his best friend has

found enough poison to finish off all the teachers they hate, or where babies really come from?

With lads you can't do it, but at least with a radio when truth has been stretched a little too far, you can turn it off. I suppose, as with children, you can mutter an optimistic he probably means well.

We've heard it before

Perhaps it's a problem of being on the planet for long enough to realise you've heard so much of the, er, the, er, well, it, before.

So instead of pontificating on those who probably can't help themselves, let me turn to really wise words from men who did use their brains for the good of all.

This quote from the past, for instance, and a long passed past, the sixth century.

Essayist Michel de Montaigne declared, 'Man is certainly stark mad: he cannot make a flea, yet he makes gods by the dozens.' All that time ago, and yet it could hardly be more apt today.

And for something else very sharp, what about this from writer and Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), 'You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.'

Continues on the blogs for my sailing adventure story, Sailing to Purgatory, at SailingToPurgatory.com