Preface "Once ourselves we come to know, nothing unknown on truth's path would stand." Demetrios Trifiatis
"The most difficult thing for a man," said Thales, the Greek philosopher of the seventh century BC, "is to know oneself." Later on, Heraclitus, another Greek philosopher of the sixth century BC, was asked how he achieved wisdom without a teacher. He replied, "I searched within myself." As we see, both of these two wise men point to the Self; for they know that the Self is the microcosm of the cosmic order. Thus, they believe the Self to be the door through which man has to pass to understand himself, the Cosmos, and to get a glimpse of God.
Both men, though, were influenced by the maxim of Apollo, the son of the mighty Zeus, who was the sun god and god of fine arts, medicine, music, eloquence, prophecy, and poetry.
Apollo's maxim, "Know Thyself" appears to be the way to understand, to know, and to attain wisdom. As Plato says, our understanding of the world depends on the amount of our experiences and the degree of our knowledge.
Of course, I do not possess the wisdom of my ancestors, nor the extent of their knowledge; but if Plato is right, the experiences in life* that I have gained since the year I was born, back in August 1944, combined with my academic degrees in philosophy, allow me to express in my poems my ideals, ideas, worries, and agony about the future of the individual and of humanity, and, in doing so, perhaps help others in their quest for self-knowledge.
At this point, I would like to humbly conclude my words with two of my own related sayings:
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Once the torch of self-knowledge is lit, the clearer the path that leads to wisdom grows." "Experience is the maiden who assists knowledge in weaving the cloak of wisdom."
