"Today, it is not easy to be Wise, or to find Wisdom, although it might seem that it is. Things were a lot simpler in past times: everybody knew who was the village wise old man or woman. Normally they were people with skin marked by wrinkles of experience and eyes as deep as the universe, living on the edge of the village where seekers of answers visited them to ask for advice and opinion. It was like that since the beginning of time, in all societies and tribal communities.

It is different today - wisdom is offered at every corner, sold by the pound... Newsstands are full of covers that scream about how to achieve it, the Internet is full of lectures, movies, videos about ""wisdom"". True, in the era of information, it is easier to get facts, to learn something, but is that true wisdom? How can a sincere seeker find the answers in such a hustle and bustle. It is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

This book is the needle. Because Marina is truly wise. Not wise because she is highly educated and erudite (although these are also her virtues, evident in her eloquence), but because she lives by Heart. She observes. She questions. She assesses with her common sense. Critical of herself, fair to the world.

This book is a jewel because it represents a testimony of a person who was most of her life - without ever consciously intending to be that - ""the village sage"". People were drawn to her, like a magnet, to hear what she thought, what she could say. Her wisdom is captivating because it is practical. She does not blather about abstract concepts. No. Each and every one of her spiritual and philosophical concepts is assessed through the prism of livability.

This book is valuable because it is real and that makes it magical."

Dea Devidas