--- title: Here's Why We Should Recognize Our Flaws description: It marks the beginning of wisdom canonical: https://time.com/4214526/wisdom-admit-flaws/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-11T13:00:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:12:26.433Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Here's Why We Should Recognize Our Flaws og:description: It marks the beginning of wisdom og:url: https://time.com/4214526/wisdom-admit-flaws/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta04005bd9d4bcd91/69887cd7ab6d7753696a8576/hands-paper-white-butterflies.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: hands-paper-white-butterflies og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why We Should Recognize Our Flaws twitter:description: It marks the beginning of wisdom twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta04005bd9d4bcd91/69887cd7ab6d7753696a8576/hands-paper-white-butterflies.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why We Should Recognize Our Flaws by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Feb 11, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  A hand half painted in white reaching up to white paper butterflies against white wall A hand half painted in white reaching up to white paper butterflies against white wallGetty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Feb 11, 2016 1:00 PM UTC A short post today that packs a punch. The liberating power of humility is one we’ve [covered](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/05/do-you-know-what-you-dont-know/) [before](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/05/the-power-of-i-dont-know/). In fact, it’s a concept that is core to understanding your [Circle of Competence](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/12/mental-model-circle-of-competence/). Now Russ Roberts adds to our collection of wisdom with this excerpt from [_How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591847958/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1591847958&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=GFWZQAFGA76MN6R2): --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2016/02/beginning-of-wisdom/)**_._** _You do want to get smarter, don’t you? Connect with Farnam Street on_ [_Facebook_](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/fbtime) _and_ [_Twitter_](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/ttime) _for more insight._ **Join over 70,000+ readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4214526/wisdom-admit-flaws/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4214526/wisdom-admit-flaws/"},"headline":"Here's Why We Should Recognize Our Flaws","datePublished":"2016-02-11T13:00:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:12:26.433Z","description":"It marks the beginning of wisdom","url":"https://time.com/4214526/wisdom-admit-flaws/","keywords":["Culture","Psychology","wisdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta04005bd9d4bcd91/69887cd7ab6d7753696a8576/hands-paper-white-butterflies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta04005bd9d4bcd91/69887cd7ab6d7753696a8576/hands-paper-white-butterflies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"hands-paper-white-butterflies","caption":"hands-paper-white-butterflies","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4214526/wisdom-admit-flaws/","name":"Here's Why We Should Recognize Our Flaws"}}]}] ```