A Lesson in Wisdom and Fairness

Every so often, a story unfolds at the bookstore that feels like it belongs in a book itself.

Three brothers contacted Bókin recently with a thoughtful request. Their grandfather had left behind what many readers would consider a treasure: a carefully built personal book collection, stored in boxes and waiting to be shared between the three of them.

The brothers goal was simple, though not necessarily easy: to divide the collection fairly without conflict or any sense that one had gained more than the others.

It’s an old problem. As old as inheritance itself and not only Philosophers have long wondered what a truly fair division looks like when something valuable must be shared. Fairness, after all, is not only about the final result, but about a process that everyone can trust.

The brothers approached the situation with wisdom. They contacted Ari at Bókin and asked  if he, with his deep knowledge of books, could evaluate the collection and divide it fairly between them. He agreed on the delicate task and carefully examined the books, considering condition, rarity, and overall value, and sorted them into three piles of roughly equal worth.

The piles were not identical, of course. A book collection rarely divides so neatly. But taken together, they were balanced in value and quality. They were simply labeled Pile 1, 2, and 3 - and then followed the elegant solution:

The brothers wrote the numbers 1–3 on slips of paper, mixed them, and each drew one, happily taking with them the pile he had drawn. 

And that was it.

No debate. No lingering feeling that someone had taken advantage of the others. The piles had been made fairly by a neutral specialist, and chance decided the final distribution. I felt moved experiencing this process first hand as there was something noble about a solution like that: the process itself guaranteed justice. The brothers trusted the method, and therefore they trusted the result.

I think that dividing such a collection with care and goodwill honoured not only the books, but also the person who gathered them.