New Year, new hopes. Break off the chains, turn your head away from the shadows and look at the sun; face the truth.

Plato’s “The Rublic”, Beginning of Book VII, The parable of the Cave.

“At all events, this is the way the phenomena look to me: in the region of the knowable the last thing to be seen, and that with considerable effort, is the idea of good; but once seen, it must be concluded that this is indeed the cause for all things of all that is right and beautiful – in the visible realm it gives birth to light and its sovereign; in the intelligible realm, itself sovereign, it provided truth and intelligence – and that the man who is going to act prudently in private or in public must see it” (517b-c).

(Turn-on captions for Greek subtitles.)

Photograph (c) Al Poullis, 2009