'For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, the more knowledge, the more grief.'  Eccles. 1:18

It might seem odd that greater wisdom, achieved through the pursuit of knowledge, should lead to sorrow. After all, it was customary to brag about one's academic achievements, show off a large library, and have all the best quips for general conversation. This was considered to be pleasurable.

This is not the kind of knowledge that the writer of Ecclesiastes (often attributed to King Solomon) means when he talks about wisdom gained through knowledge. You can be the best read person on the planet and still lack wisdom. You might have a string of PhD's next to your name and have no insight into anything other than your subject areas and even there, little beyond the accumulated facts and dry analyses. 

This kind of wisdom is a result of a greater understanding of the human condition. It can come through conventional study, of course. An historian might lurch into deeper grief as a result of the realisation that the long cycles of history seem to be repeating themselves, largely due to the unchanging flaws in human nature.

A test of durable wisdom is apparent in those people who see past the present fashions, accept the foibles, would love to see change but realise that a radical alteration to circumstances is not to be found in human endeavour, however determined.