'O buono cunziglio nun se paga

Someone who tells you the right thing at the right moment gives you a huge gift.

The deal and the surveyor’s warning

When I was about to buy a home, I was sure I’d found the deal of a lifetime. An old surveyor from the neighborhood, who knew my father, wanted to see it before I signed. He walked through the rooms in silence, then opened a window onto the courtyard and told me to look at the crack under the sill. I didn’t sign. I never asked him how much I owed him, and he never told me.