110 TALES OF WISDOM from All Over the World -
We all wish we were wise or wiser, but what is wisdom?
The tradition of wisdom tales stretches back as far as memory itself. It is probably as old as speech and as far reaching as humanity is on earth.
A tale of wisdom does not necessarily attempt to portray moral virtue or ethical conduct. It may, on the contrary, appear immoral, iconoclastic or blasphemous. It differs from a fairytale, a fable or a myth for it never ends with a miracle.
Wisdom is manifested in unexpected perspectives and solutions which inspire the soul, heart and intellect, all at once. What is sought is an enlightening effect produced by the sage's clear-sightedness, the boldness of his response, the strength of the truth he is demonstrating, or simply by the serenity emanating from the solution he offers.
Through more than a hundred tales, inspired by traditions from all over the word, biographies of sages and from his own observations, Patrick Levy invokes this precious human quality wisdom is.