This Why You Should Never Chase Your Own Shadow (Tales of Wisdom #22)

Travellers from India brought an elephant in Baghdad, and the beast have been parked in a dark barn. The people, eager to know what such an animal looked like, rushed into the barn. Not being able to see it with their eyes, the visitors felt the animal with their hands. …

In days gone by, all humans were gods. But they abused their privileges so much that Brahmâ, the master of the gods, decided to take away their power to destroy their divinity. So Brahmâ organized a council to decide on a hiding place that would be impossible to detect. The…

Arich businessman was on vacation in India. One morning, on the coast, he saw a fisherman’s boat on its way home. “Oh dear,” he shouted. “Was the fishing good?” The fisherman smiled at him and showed him some fish lying on the floor of his boat: - “Yes, it’s a…

In order to keep my own privacy, I have decided to hide my Instagram username. This story is relative to an event that happened during December, 2019. During Winter 2019, I was bored and was losing time on Instagram. I am a big fan of Wim Hof (https://www.instagram.com/iceman_hof/), so it…

A long time ago, in Armenia, a king owned a rose bush which he pampered as the most precious of his children. It was said that when on its meagre branches a rose bloomed, it would give immortality to the master of the garden. As soon as spring came, the…

A fisherman known for his wisdom once brought a magic lamp back in his nets. When he removed the cork, a good genie was released and offered to grant him three of his wishes. The fisherman thought about it and said: - “This is my first wish. I would like to make myself wise and clever enough to make a perfect choice for the next two wishes.” - “It’s granted” said the genie. “So what will be your other two wishes?” The fisherman thought for a moment and then said: - “Thank you. You have opened my eyes. I have no other wishes.”

A Japanese teenager went to a martial arts master, a great specialist in the practice of the sword, and asked him how long it would take to learn this art. - “Ten years, said the master.” - “Ten years! But that’s too long! It is much too much! I will never have the strength to wait!” - “So, twenty years, said the master.”

He was a harp wizard. On the plains of Colombia, there was no party without him. For the party to be a party, Mese Figueredo had to be there, with his dancing fingers brightening up the air and scaring the legs. One night, on a lost path, thieves attacked him. Mese Figueredo was returning from a wedding, riding a mule, him on one mule, the harp on another, when thieves threw themselves on him and beat him. The next day, someone found him. He was lying on the path, a dirty rag of mud and blood, deader than alive.

One of the most subtle stories of the very illustrious Nasreddin Hodja, tells that he was on his way to the market one day, carrying a large watermelon under each arm. In front of him, walking at the same pace, he saw a man walking in the same direction, also…