London cabbies are known for their banter but one of their number has decided to turn the tables and ask punters to pass on their words of wisdom instead.

Hornchurch resident Mark Solomon set about acquiring The Knowledge in 1996 and after three years travelling round the city on a moped, he was granted a license to be a London taxi driver. Two years ago he decided to extend his search for enlightenment by asking passengers to write down their favourite quotes, proverbs or personal philosophies, while sitting in the back of his cab.

Mark’s website blackcabquotes.com contains a monthly archive of these musings dating from October 2009 to the present. Now he has compiled the cream of our capital’s utterances into a book, Black Cab Wisdom.

Flipping through the pages of his book or browsing on the web, there’s plenty of sage advice to give you pause for thought.

Someone called Dave states: ’The world is three meals away from anarchy,’ which considering the recent riots is pretty close to the bone.

Anonymous in Chelsea gives the following advice: ’When there are riots in London, cut your losses and go home! Stay safe and don’t let your wife worry.’ Some of the quotes are well-known, some self-penned, but overall Mark has been overwhelmed by the positive response he has got when asking people to scribble down a brief message while en route to their destination.

“When I started out I asked them for quotes verbally and then I’d write down what they said on a scrap of paper,“ says Mark. “This developed into a verbal pitch with a clipboard on the back seat.

“I offer every passenger the chance to contribute but I don’t want to get them out of their comfort zone. Even if they don’t want to contribute they can read the quotes from other passengers and if they’re deep in conversation, I just give them a card so they can contribute on the web afterwards.“ Born in Barking, Mark attended Towers Junior School and Emmerson Park School but says he was more creative and sporty than academic.

“I’ve always enjoyed worldly-wise phrases and motivational sayings. The first person I asked for a quote was this worldly-wise north American passenger at Waterloo station. Then the passengers directed it from there. They gave me the belief to put it into a book. They were my lifecoaches and my critics.“ Mark tells me his archive contains more proverbs and famous quotes than what he terms “natural material“.

“There’s a lot of Churchill, Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare but sometimes you just get into a conversation and someone might say something very profound, so I ask them to write it down. You might also get lucky and they’ll tell you a saying that their great-grandfather or grandmother made up.

“There was one guy who was just speaking his thoughts and said ’the biggest mistake I made was not marrying my second wife first’ and after he said it we both burst out laughing.“ The contributions have definitely proved to be an inspiration for Mark and for his fares too.

“In general cab driving has restored my faith in Londoners; it’s one of best networking jobs in the world.

“One of the great things about asking for quotes is it doesn’t discriminate. Every race, nationality and age group has something to say. It’s taught me not to judge a book by its cover.“ So does Mark have any favourite quotes?

“A passenger called Faith told me: ’Purpose as a currency is more value than money’ and I also like ’An inch in the right direction better than a mile in a wrong direction’.

“One of the main bonuses is how much the passengers enjoy it and the positive comments I get. They say it’s made their world a better place.“

Details: www.blackcabquotes.com