The noun wiseness is far less defined and in my opinion a quality of being sensible and prudent reached through wisdom gained over a life time. Wise people may be thought of as old souls. This state, quality, or measure of wisdom is acknowledged by several references. Of note are the endless number of quotes by some of histories most famous, wise and influential people. Much can be gained by reading these short quotes.

“Yet have I something in me dangerous, Which let thy wiseness fear” Shakespeare, Hamlet.

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer” Bruce Lee

“A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years of mere study of books” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God” George Washington

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has” Epictetus

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget” Thomas Szasz

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future” George Bernard Shaw

“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late” Benjamin Franklin

Striving for the common good, doing the right thing in times of adversity, thinking logically and understanding human nature are all examples of both wiseness and wisdom. What differentiates the two is that wisdom is defined as “the state of being wise”, meaning its older name of wise was joined by the suffix of “dom”. This addition can convey a general condition such as defined in the word “freedom”. Wiseness indicates an older version of wisdom and hence the “old souls reference”.