Your Wisdom

“This world is a mountain, and our action the shout:the echo of the shouts comes back to us.” —  Rumi, The Masnavi I Ma’navi , Trans. E. H. Whinfield She was walking past me in a hurry, headphones in, her pace light but determined — that London rhythm of people moving between places. But when she saw me raise a hand, signalling I wanted to speak, she paused. She slipped out one earbud, then the other, and smiled as if she had been listening to something she could easily retur

"We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity."  —  Charlie Chaplin He had been standing nearby while I spoke with the police officers — watching, hands in his pockets, a faint smile as though remembering something distant. When we finished, he walked toward me, unhurried. “I’m off to Spain this afternoon,” he said, his voice steady and light, “but I’ve got time. I like to share what I’ve learned.” He was in his seventies, his frame lean and up

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."  —  Mahatma Gandhi They appeared at the turn of a quiet street in Kensington — three officers on patrol, moving with that mix of alertness and ease that comes from routine. The pavement was narrow, and they stepped aside to let me pass, but I stopped instead. There was something about their warmth — the kind that dissolves the usual distance between uniform and passerby. The woman among them caught

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question."  —  Eugène Ionesco They began not with answers, but with questions — a stream of them, clear and curious, like ripples spreading across still water. “What is stress?” one asked. “How do you define it? What kind of stress? And what do you mean by learning in life — a skill, or a way of thinking?” We were sitting on a bench in Holland Park, where late-summer light slipped through the trees. Children ran past chasing pige

"The wound is the place where the light enters you."  —  Rumi “I had… well, a kind of collapse. A mental collapse.” The words came quietly, without shame — the kind of honesty that only arrives once the storm has passed. She sat on a bench in Kew Gardens, bathed in late-afternoon sun. Around her, the first crisp leaves of autumn brushed against the ground. Her hair, white as light, shimmered in the soft air, and her skin seemed to hold the glow of peace reclaimed. She told me

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."  —  William James She sat in the open hatch of her ice cream van, parked by the edge of St James’s Park — the kind of London spot where laughter and footsteps blur together in the hum of the city. The day was bright, but she looked as if the light reached her only partially. Her face was thin, the lines around her mouth drawn a little deeper than her years might suggest. She couldn’t have

"Between stimulus and response there is a space.In that space is our power to choose our response.In our response lies our growth and our freedom."  —  Viktor E. Frankl Amid the rush of Leicester Square — the buskers, the noise, the constant movement of people crossing paths without seeing one another — she sat alone, still as a breath held between thoughts. There was something quietly magnetic about her presence, a kind of self-contained calm that seemed to soften the air

"A little while alone in your room will prove more valuable than anything else that could ever be given you."  —  Rumi She sat alone at the café table, a quiet smile flickering at the corners of her lips. It was her birthday, though she wasn’t surrounded by balloons or chatter. No party hats, no fuss — just herself, a coffee, and a sense of contentment that seemed almost rare in a world addicted to noise. She told me, with the ease of someone who has lived long enough to trus

In a sunlit café, a graceful Turkish woman shared how the sea, silence, and small acts of kindness help her find peace. She walks away from conflict, prays softly, and gives quietly — not to be seen, but to stay steady. Her daughter copes differently, turning inward for rest. Two lives, two rhythms — both deeply human. A reflection on calm, resilience, and the quiet power of choosing peace.