Wise Conceit and Inner Humility

Neville's Inner Vision

The verse points to a man who wears wisdom as a conceit, a fixed sense of knowing that blocks growth. In Neville's language, such a person remains a fixed state of consciousness—an I AM that refuses revision, clinging to a self-image of wisdom. Because imagination shapes reality, this stubborn 'wise' state projects a world that confirms limitation, and so there is less hope of change than for a fool who admits ignorance. The fool, sensing his gap, opens to possibility; the 'wise' one barricades the door with certainty. The remedy is not to discard wisdom but to drop the judgment that you have arrived. Use the I AM as a fresh observer: assume you are not what you think you know; revise your sense of self into a learner who is guided by the desire to know. In that act, you convert the state you occupy into one of growing awareness, and the outer scenes begin to shift to reflect a new, receptive mind.