Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.

Smiles frames “wisdom and understanding” not as gifts conferred by birth, schooling, or luck, but as personal acquisitions earned through sustained practice. The “old road” suggests a time-tested method: careful observation of the world, disciplined attention to detail, perseverance through difficulty, and steady industry. The line reflects a Victorian ethic of self-culture and improvement—knowledge is experiential and moral as well as intellectual, and it accumulates through habits rather than sudden inspiration. Implicitly, Smiles rejects shortcuts and passive dependence on authorities, emphasizing that genuine understanding must be worked for and internalized by the individual.