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Notes truth and propriety. The piling up of knowledge destroys natural simplicity and restricts the
unbiased freedom of mind.
• Common sense is characterised by a sound and impartial judgement on everything concerning
the activities of man. It is treated as wisdom when it is combined with great attainments and
with a capacity to think. We do not have an instance of one person combining in himself the
practical and theoretical kinds of wisdom. There are many who are wise in the affairs of the
world and in the activities involving their own interests. But in judging general questions
people fall victims of their own weakness or vanity.
• For instance, a person may be an excellent scholar combing in himself varied talents. He
would show his want of common sense in a trivial thing like giving a tip. He may be well
versed in law and have all the arguments ready. But he forgets that in given situation he has
to deal with the impalpable essences like interest and custom. He fails to checkmate a police
officer or a customs official with the help of his syllogisms and authorities.
• One acquires wisdom as he realises that he must strike a compromise with existing
circumstances. Life demands a modification of our convictions. We have proofs of this
throughout our lives. Here common sense effectively function. A few like Hampden may
agree to go to the jail instead of paying ‘ship-money’. Such instances are exceptions. Normally,
our lives are governed more by our feelings, not by our logical arguments. We cannot afford
to ignore the importance of feeling. But there are some who are victims of argument, just as
some are extremely particular about minute details. The former seeks an argument for
everything, while the other needs facts to support a conclusion. The latter are deficient in
common sense. Their ideas are local and literal. They fail to grasp the whole problem. They
forget their principles in their quest for proofs.
• The Scotch have this matter-of-fact understanding. They believe that their land has no equal.
Everything Scotch is considered to be great, including the beggars of Scotland. But women
are best fitted to set right such fantastic attitudes. They lose common sense only when they
go beyond this sphere of feeling and observation and when they accept the opinions of their
learned husbands.
• A country-shoemaker understands shoe-making, though he knows nothing about the problem
of Catholics in England. The old woman in the village believes that she will be burnt at the
stake because she was told so by those who, according to her, are supposed to know better.
Such vulgar errors have nothing to do with common sense. Common sense is a collection of
true experiences, while common place is made of cant phrases. A common place book is
filled with trite and affected platitudes.
• Affectation put an end to common sense, for the latter requires utmost simplicity and sincerity.
A liar has not common sense because he is always busy putting on false appearances. The
conceited person does not have common sense because he colours everything with the hues
of his own personality. Great talkers sacrifice truth in trying to make a fine speech or to
express a fine sentiment. They look at nature only to find out what they can say about it.
Passionate people do not show common sense. Coleridge acquired knowledge by painful
methodical labour. But being phlegmatic he is half a philosopher and half a clown. Since
poets seek to create a world according to their own imagination they can do very well
without common sense.
• There is no remedy for want of tact and insight into human affairs. The only remedy that can
be suggested is a study of Fielding’s great novel Tom Jones. The most absurd characters are
those who act in opposition to their better knowledge. The capricious and the fickle, the
perverse and the obstinate, the idle and the vicious have only biased wills, not deficient
understandings. The greatest fools in practice are some times the wisest men in theory. They

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