How to Take Care of Yourself:
a Stylites Approach
One of the Stoics said, “It is in constantly paying attention to oneself that one assures one’s salvation.”
From Socrates onwards, maybe before,
Right down to Kant, and Sartre, Marx and Freud,
Philosophers and analysts knew more
Than we did, how to live, what to avoid,
And how subconscious thought and conscious act
Will make for happiness. “Know thyself,” “I
Think, therefore . . .”, “will to power” might impact
Upon the brain, but the important spy
Report comes from yourself. Don’t ask your friend,
A priest or shrink. It’s not so much what you
Have learned about your mind as that you end
Each query with, “Is this fact really true
To me and what I need? Am I above
Mistakes about reality and love?”