People toss out good ideas all the time—sometimes just because of who said them, or old grudges, or because they don’t like the person’s beliefs or background. It’s a shame. Truth doesn’t wear a name tag, and wisdom isn’t picky about who delivers it. What actually matters is the value an idea brings, not where it came from. You’ve heard it before: don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
If we always played this game—rejecting anything that didn’t
originate from our own little corner—we’d lose out on almost everything we rely
on. Imagine saying no to cars because they weren’t invented here, or refusing
to use a phone because it came from someone with a different worldview. That’s
not how progress works. Civilization is messy, shared, and built on contributions
from every direction. Wisdom is like lost property—if you find it, grab it. It
belongs to anyone willing to claim it.
That’s the beauty of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s old saying: “Take the
fruit and leave the wood for the fire.” It’s simple but sharp. Focus on what’s
useful. Take what helps, what teaches, what adds something real to your life,
and let the rest go. Ignore the distractions—the quirks of the messenger, the
baggage, the stuff that gets in the way. Sometimes you’ve got to practice the
art of overlooking, too. Don’t trip over someone’s flaws if what they’re
offering is genuinely good.
Living this way means being flexible in your thinking. The smartest
people can spot value, even if it’s wrapped in something they don’t like, or
comes from someone they disagree with. If you close yourself off, if you only
ever listen to people who look or think just like you, you end up stuck in a
tiny world. You never see the big picture peeking through the keyhole.
Honestly, we need that kind of wisdom now more than ever. There’s
so much noise, so many clashing opinions. Instead of slamming the door on
everything unfamiliar or inconvenient, start picking out the fruit wherever you
find it. Figure out what feeds your mind and soul, and leave the rest for the
fire. That’s how you grow. That’s how you rise above the small stuff and make
the world a little wider, a little richer for everyone.
