Discernment

In some texts, discernment and wisdom are given equivalent value. The reason for this is a simple one: discernment is the act of distinguishing by sifting; that is, given a number of entities, the man of discernment can separate what is desirable (wanted, useful, good etc) from what is not (unwanted, useless, bad etc).

However, these two things are etymologically unequal. Discernment is from the Latin discernere, which means 'to separate one from another, to distinguish and set apart'. Wisdom comes from the older wis (from which we also get 'wit' and 'vision') + -dom; it is about having the ability or capacity for knowing or seeing something.

The problem really is whether a person has the discernment to discern between discernment and wisdom. Or perhaps, the wisdom to see the difference between discernment and wisdom. Hmm...