Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, but wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe.

Book knowledge can sit unused, stored and dormant until someone needs it. Wisdom is more alert. It shows up in ordinary moments, in how a neighbour handles a quarrel, in a child’s blunt question, in a small mistake that teaches you something, and it is available to anyone paying attention.

This week, look for wisdom outside anything you read. Listen closely to how older people talk about their lives, or to how someone deals gracefully with a hard situation. Write down one thing you learned that no book taught you.