Solomon was the wisest man to have ever lived. The scripture also says that he will be the wisest to ever live. Yet, in his wisdom, we see two things. The first is that his life was filled with folly. Second we see that he still opened himself to receive wisdom from others. Solomon knew that his wisdom didn’t equal perfection, but rather it equaled opportunity towards perfection. Those who learn from the mistakes of others have more opportunity to live a meaningful and functionally perfect life. They also have the opportunity to become closer to God. Therefore, as he has stated many times before, his purpose in sharing these things is not to produce perfection, but to open the door wider for his children to know God better. After all, with his opportunity, provided by his wisdom, he brought his kingdom to a tipping point it would never recover from. He allowed idolatry to enter the land. We must remember why we should be wise. We should be wise because it opens up opportunity to be good. It opens up opportunity to be in line with how we were created to be. It helps us to see our creator and see ourselves better. Therefore we should listen to the words of the wise despite how wise we may think ourselves.