You've never met my son. Every night at bed time and whenever we want him to stop what he is doing, he asks for more time.If time is the answer, I don't feel some of the lines fit that well. A good riddle excludes all other options. Is time really a child's desire? It is a bit of a stretch.
From just the first riddle, my guess was actually Candy.If you go with the base riddle, I think you also need to accept Fast Food. (Yes, I'm joking. Mostly).
If time is the answer, I don't feel some of the lines fit that well. A good riddle excludes all other options. Is time really a child's desire? It is a bit of a stretch.
LOL - yeah -- fixed. You're the first person to notice that. Just goes to show what our minds will put in place when we think we know what something should say...You'll probably want to fix your typo in line 2, though: that should read "More ravaging than any fire" - correct?
Johnathan
Honestly, I don't think either of those answers support the base riddle much at all, unless you care to elaborate?I must admit, until the additional clues you provided, I could've easily gone with:
orwisdom
wit
It's one of those problems of the framing of the riddle - is it looking for a "conceptual" or "philosophical" answer, or a "pragmatic" or "obvious" answer? I approached the original 4-line riddle from the first perspective, which of course does't seem to have been the angle that you were going for.Honestly, I don't think either of those answers support the base riddle much at all, unless you care to elaborate?
Thanks for your insight. Some of this is a bit of a stretch IMO, especially the "More ravaging than any fire" line... but to each their own.It's one of those problems of the framing of the riddle - is it looking for a "conceptual" or "philosophical" answer, or a "pragmatic" or "obvious" answer? I approached the original 4-line riddle from the first perspective, which of course does't seem to have been the angle that you were going for.
Vanity's foe - Both wit and wisdom puncture arrogance, hubris and vanity.
Child's/old man's desire - A child possesses neither wit nor wisdom, which are typically manifestations of manifestations of age and experience. Equally, many old people lack them, and either think they do, or wish they did.
More ravaging than any fire - Both wit and wisdom are excellent means of demolishing arguments and opponents alike.
Worst of enemies, best of friends - Again on the theme of how wit and wisdom are tools to analyse, debate, engage with people and their views, wit and wisdom are double-edged swords that can make you a pariah or a saint, often to different people and for different reasons.
With value one rarely comprehends - Well, this could be said about most positive traits, but IME both wit and wisdom are often in short supply and rarely appreciated these days.
Cheers, Al'kelhar