“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.”

― Confucius …

I heard this quote several eons ago and believed it meant that – when given a choice – be around the most educated, professional, well-read and “successful” people that opportunities afforded. I re-heard this once familiar phrase just days ago and now it has such a different meaning …

Now it could be someone I see regularly at the gym but never actually talked to … someone at work who shares a task with me but I know really nothing else about … a neighbor who I wave to every morning, but have never actually spoken to … they might be the smartest person in the room! And the only way that I’m going to know is if I do make the effort to talk to them and ask them authentic questions, listening to their answers and reflecting on what it means.
I wonder if this is what Confucius really meant … regardless, that is what this quote now means to me.