House Has to Win in the End or No House

We confuse wisdom
With success, with the absence
Of mistakes. Oh, yes,

It’s permissible,
Even admirable
For the wise to have erred once
Or twice before they got wise.

But to have achieved wisdom,
Almost by definition,
Means to have succeeded or
Somehow transcended success.

Wisdom’s nothing like success.
Wisdom knows there’s no success,
Nor any choice of failures.