Meaning of “it is manifestly a wiser course to aim…”

The line makes development itself a source of satisfaction: people flourish, in Morris’s account, when their abilities are actively exercised instead of left unused.

Within his restrictive view of personality, Schopenhauer still assigns agency to choosing pursuits that use and develop one’s actual capacities rather than leaving them idle or mismatched.

Schopenhauer ranks enduring personal qualities above possessions, placing character and inner resources closer to the center of life than external ownership.

The image treats intellectual development as cumulative craftsmanship: insight and knowledge gradually produce greater coherence instead of appearing as a single finished achievement.

The maxim connects understanding with the capacity to act effectively rather than treating knowledge as decoration.

Washington opens the book by treating manual work as capable of contributing to education, dignity and practical development rather than merely supplying labor.