From my viewpoint, better than a great career is a great life.
Creating value for better understanding and living; such value is beautiful.
What comes to mind is that a wise person is a projective thinker.
He will build situations in his mind. He will enlarge his perceptions and alter his perception.
He will bring much more to the situation than is immediately provided by it.
He is creative.
Life brings endless opportunities for passionate involvements and so we need more projective thinking than the reactive thinking of a person who has been taught to react to problems, maybe like a career civil servant.
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity - http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
My contribution here is not meant to debate, but just to bring more to the situation than is immediately provided by it.