What makes someone wise? Is it gained by someone who has a lot of power or is it gained through action based on experience and knowledge? Thomas J. Watson answered this question when he said, “Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.” Our experiences and our knowledge are what make us wise when we put them into action. Abigail Adams is someone who applied her knowledge and experiences to make the world a better place. She was wise. Through her advice, sacrifice, and advocacy for education and women’s rights, Abigail Adams showed that wisdom is not defined by power, but by thoughtful action and courage.
As a young girl, Abigail Adams did not receive a formal education. She was taught how to read and write and was given access to an extensive library. This is where she gained her education and her love for a great deal of subjects including ancient history and how the government worked. As she grew older and had kids of her own, she realized how important it was for them to get an education. She taught them herself because all schools were closed due to war. In a letter, she wrote, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” She also believed that women should be able to receive a formal education just like the men. In a letter written to John Adams in 1776, she expressed, “If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women. The world perhaps would laugh at me, and accuse me of vanity, but you I know have a mind too enlarged and liberal to disregard the Sentiment. If much depends as is allowed upon the early Education of youth and the first principles which are instill’d take the deepest root, great benefit must arise from literary accomplishments in women.” Abigail Adams was a major advocate of the idea that everyone should be able to receive an education, so that they would know how the world works and would be able to make it better.
When Abigail Adams was born, she was tiny and wasn’t expected to live. Her whole life she struggled with her health and was very prone to getting different types of sickness and disease. In 1775, there was a huge epidemic of dysentery. Abigail Adams, knowing full well that she would get sick, helped as many people as she could. She would try to alleviate any pain that she could and would nurse anyone in need no matter the time of day. Many loved ones passed away during this epidemic including Abigail’s beloved mother. The death of her mother was very hard on her and brought much grief and sorrow. In a letter to John Adams she wrote, “But the heavy stroke which most of all distresses me is my dear Mother. I cannot overcome my too selfish sorrow, all her tenderness towards me, her care and anxiety for my welfare at all times, her watchfulness over my infant years, her advice and instruction in maturer age; all, all indear her memory to me, and highten my sorrow for her loss.” She was willing to sacrifice much of her time and resources in order to care for those in need.
Throughout Abigail’s lifetime, she exchanged over one-thousand one-hundred letters with her husband. In these letters she counseled with her husband and gave him advice. These letters had a great influence on him, which in turn had a great influence on the founding of America. In a letter she wrote, “It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.” She was saying that through trials and difficulties, that is where the most growth happens and where the best version of yourself emerges. In another letter she wrote, “We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” She was saying that many people say grand and lofty things but few people put into action what they say they will. Through Abigail’s letters, she was able to counsel with her husband and give him advice and direction. She was very knowledgeable and knew what he needed to hear to help him with his situation.
Following Abigail Adams’ example, we too can show wisdom in our actions. We can gain an education so that we understand the world we live in and can make it a better place. We can make the sacrifices necessary to help those in need. We can read her letters of advice and learn from them. Through thoughtful actions and courage we can gain wisdom just like Abigail Adams.
Resources:
Lagace, M. (2025, July 1.) 75 Words of Wisdom from the Best Minds (Ever). Wisdom Quotes. https://wisdomquotes.com/words-of-wisdom/
Top 25 Quotes by Abigail Adams (of 62): A-Z Quotes. (n.d.). https://www.azquotes.com/author/71-Abigail_Adams
Abigail Adams to John Adams, 9 October 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0195. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 1, December 1761 – May 1776, ed. Lyman H. Butterfield. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963, pp. 296–299.]