Not to sound corny, but intelligence is big. Everything fades

The poet and musician Wale, in his reflections on truth and authenticity, once said: “Not to sound corny, but intelligence is big. Everything fades, and everything can be modified. But intelligence is something you can’t fake. I’m not even talking about whether you can read a thesaurus backwards. But there is a beauty in common sense.” Though his words arise from the modern world, they echo ancient wisdom. Beneath their casual tone lies a truth older than any civilization — that intelligence, especially the grounded kind that springs from common sense, is one of the few lights that cannot be dimmed by time, fashion, or falsehood.

In every age, men have chased what fades: beauty, wealth, status, the fleeting approval of the crowd. These things glitter for a moment, then vanish like dew at sunrise. But intelligence endures. It is not the memorization of words, nor the mimicry of intellect. It is the deep and quiet ability to perceive truth, to connect cause with effect, to understand what is before the eyes and what lies behind it. Wale reminds us that this form of intelligence cannot be faked — for while one may adorn oneself in borrowed eloquence, true understanding cannot be imitated. It reveals itself in judgment, in humility, and in action.

The ancients knew this well. Socrates, the wisest of the Greeks, claimed to know nothing — yet in that admission lay his greatest intelligence. He understood that wisdom begins not with knowledge, but with awareness of ignorance. The fools of Athens boasted of their cleverness, their rhetoric, their reputation; but Socrates, with his simple questions and piercing sense, laid bare the hollow pretenses of intellect. What Wale calls “the beauty in common sense” is this same clarity — the power to see what is real without ornament or disguise. It is the mind that cuts through noise, like a sword through fog.

Consider also the life of Abraham Lincoln, a man born in poverty and raised in the wilderness, with no formal education beyond what he could glean by firelight. Yet he possessed a mind sharpened by observation, by reflection, by the simple logic of human experience. When others mistook verbosity for wisdom, Lincoln spoke with plainness and truth, and his words carried the weight of mountains. It was not sophistication, but common sense, that guided him through the moral storm of his age. His leadership proved that brilliance does not require luxury — only clarity, empathy, and the courage to think rightly.

What Wale calls “modification” — the ability to change appearances, to craft illusions — is abundant in the modern world. One may now alter face, form, or tone; one may purchase the appearance of beauty or knowledge with ease. Yet intelligence resists imitation. A mind that truly sees, that questions, that reasons — such a thing cannot be manufactured. Intelligence is the final unaltered diamond in an age of glass. And within it lies not arrogance, but beauty — for common sense is the harmony between heart and mind, between truth and simplicity.

To admire intelligence, then, is to value authenticity over performance. The wise person does not seek to impress, but to understand. He listens more than he speaks, observes more than he judges. The beauty in common sense lies in its humility — in its refusal to complicate what is simple or to disguise what is clear. The ancients would have called such intelligence phronesis — practical wisdom — the ability to act rightly in the midst of uncertainty. This is what Wale honors: not scholarly vanity, but living intelligence — the kind that illuminates daily life.

So let this lesson be written upon your heart: Seek not to appear intelligent, but to be intelligent. Cultivate the quiet wisdom that listens, the humility that learns, and the clarity that discerns truth from illusion. Remember that everything fades — beauty, power, even memory — but understanding endures. It is the root from which justice grows, the compass that guides through storm, the fire that kindles meaning in a cold world.

Therefore, honor the beauty of common sense, for it is the rarest jewel of all. Speak plainly, act wisely, and think deeply. Measure your worth not by what you own or display, but by how well you perceive, how gently you reason, and how truthfully you live. For when all else fades, and all illusions are stripped away, it is the intelligence of the heart and mind — unpretentious, honest, and humane — that will remain, shining with a light that cannot be faked and will never fade.