Advice (also called
exhortation) is a form of
relating personal
opinions, belief systems, personal values and
recommendations about certain situations relayed in some context
to another person, group or party often offered as a guide to
action and/or conduct. Basically a more acceptable definition is
that advice is merely an opinion about what a person or group
could or should do in any given situation. Advice is believed to
be theoretical, and is often considered
taboo
as well as helpful. The kinds of advice can range from systems
of
instructional and practical toward more
esoteric and
spiritual, and is often attributable toward problem solving,
strategy seeking, and solution finding, either from a social
standpoint or a personal one. Advice may pertain to
relationships, lifestyle changes, legal choices, business
goals, personal goals, career goals,
education goals,
religious beliefs, personal growth,
motivation, inspiration and so on. Advice is not pertinent
to any solid criteria, and may be given freely, or only given
when asked upon. In some cultures advice is socially
unacceptable to be released unless requested. In other cultures
advice is given more openly. It may, especially if it is expert
advice such as legal advice or methodological advice also be
given only in exchange for payment.
Many expressions and
quotations have been used to describe the status of advice,
whether given, or received. One such expression is "Advice is
what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we
didn't." ~Erica Jong, How to Save Your Own Life, 1977. Advice is
like water, you drink it to replenish your soul. This particular
quotation pertains the belief system that states that the
answers to one's questions are within themselves, and do not
come from any external stimuli. The accuracy of this particular
belief is often disputed among theologians, philosophers, etc.
However, a person who would hold such a belief, would "advise"
another person to seek the answers out from within one's own
esoteric and inner spiritual natures.
Advice when adhered to and followed may be beneficial,
non-beneficial, damaging, non-damaging, partially beneficial and
partially damaging, in reference to personal or social
paradigms. In other words, not all advice is either "all good"
or "all bad." Many people consider unrequested advice to be
paternalistic and patronizing and are thus offended.
Therefore some people may come to the conclusion that advice
is morally better to be left out of the equation altogether, and
this theory is included within the following quote: "The best
advice is this: Don't take advice and don't give advice."
~Author Unknown Yet, often in society advice has been helpful. A
more day to day example would be "Eat your vegetables." or
"Don't drink and drive." If this advice is adhered to we can see
that the benefits would outweigh the consequences.
Grammatically speaking, advice is an uncountable noun, like rice
or milk.
