ILLUMINATING WISDOM

Words of Wisdom, Works of Art

Deirdre Hassed, Craig Hassed, Exisle Publishing, Hardcover $24.99 (160pp), 978-1-925335-35-4

Take wisdom where you can find it, and keep on looking—especially in unlikely places. The first three or four sentences of this illustrated compendium of more than eighty of wisdom’s greatest hits points directly at a religious conundrum: “While most people are disposed to their [religious] faith without much interest in questioning what has been taught, others are more disposed to reflection and inquiry. Therefore spiritual traditions very often have two main arms: one being for those disposed to faith—the religious—and another, more mystical or philosophical arm for those drawn to reflection.” Consequently, wisdom of the everlasting sort almost always draws deeply from both spiritual and philosophical traditions, whether Western or Eastern. Rendered in beautiful, multi-styled calligraphy, the wise words are artful, the art insightful, inspirational, and appealing to all.