There are all kinds of ways to be, in the human-as-animal kingdom. But if I had to pick favorite temperamental juxtapositions, I’d hafta say that I love KIND INTELLIGENCE more than almost anything else. To me, that's the perfect balancing act of being.
I'll take dumb kindness over mean intelligence any day of the week, absolutely, when forced to a choice. But it's close. (Evil genius is nobody's sweetheart, but well-meaning cluelessness ain't no picnic, neither.)
I like us best at our best, in concert. Via the simple equation:
SWEETNESS OF HEART + SMARTNESS OF BRAIN = WHAT WE LIKE TO CALL SOUL.
Otherwise, we're pretty much left in a world full of soulless, yammering dumbasses and smartasses. Neither of which we would like to be surrounded by. AND DON'T WANNA BE, EITHER!
So let's weigh our hearts and our smarts in equal measure, okay? Keep it both sardonic and empathic. Both critical and caring. With maybe a little gnosis on top.
In the words of the late, great Howard Walpole: "This life is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel."
In the end, we're either more than both, or less than half of ourselves.
Don't know about you.
But to me, the choice seems clear.