The Turkish folkhero Mullah Nasruddin was renowned for his paradoxical approach to wisdom as both paradox and folly.

A student sought out Mullah Nasruddin for years, hoping to find guidance from him.  He finally found the Mullah in the marketplace sitting atop a pile of anana peels– no one knows why.

“Oh great sage, Nasruddin,” said the student. “I must ask you an important question, whose answer we all seek: What is the secret to attaining happiness?”

Mullah Nasrudin pondered for a time and finally replied, “Good judgment.”

“Ah,” said the student. “But how do we attain good judgment?”

“From experience,” answered Nasruddin.

“Yes,” said the student. “But how do we get experience?”

“Bad judgment.”

(From Joel ben Izzy, THE BEGGAR KING AND THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS,

Algonquin Books, 2003).