There's book smart, there is street smart, there's relationship

The words of J. B. Smoove—“There’s book smart, there is street smart, there’s relationship smart, there’s too many different kinds of smarts to know all of them. Everybody doesn’t know every kind of smart. There’s money smart, there’s movie smart, there’s computer smart. There’s just too many different kinds of smarts for people to know all the smarts”—resound with the humble recognition that wisdom wears many faces. He reminds us that no single mind can contain all forms of knowledge, for the universe is vast, and human experience is rich with countless ways of understanding.

The ancients knew this truth well. They distinguished between the wisdom of the philosopher, the cunning of the merchant, the craft of the builder, and the instincts of the warrior. Each kind of smart was revered in its place, for the polis could not survive on scholars alone, nor could it thrive by brute strength without counsel. Thus Smoove speaks in their tradition: acknowledging that the world requires not one form of knowledge, but many, each unique and essential.

The mention of book smart and street smart reflects this eternal balance. The written word teaches laws, histories, and sciences, but the living world of markets, alleys, and crowds teaches caution, intuition, and wit. To be strong in one does not guarantee strength in the other. Likewise, relationship smart demands emotional skill, the ability to walk gently among others, while money smart demands discipline and foresight. Each smart is a tool; none encompasses the whole.

This truth is also humbling. For pride tempts men to believe their kind of smart is the highest, yet Smoove reminds us that each is incomplete. The sage who scorns the knowledge of the craftsman, the rich who belittle the wisdom of the poor, the clever who mock the sincere—all are blind. True greatness comes not in knowing all, but in respecting the many forms of knowing that others hold.

So let this teaching endure: seek not to master every smart, for such a task is beyond mortal reach. Instead, cultivate your own strengths while honoring the gifts of others. For the city is built by many hands, the world sustained by many minds, and wisdom itself is revealed not in singular mastery, but in the harmony of many smarts working together.