On hearing about powerful love, respond, be moved like an aesthete. Only, fortunate as you've been, remember how much your imagination created for you.
C.P. CavafyAnd if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you. Wise as you have become, with so much experience, you must already have understood what these Ithacas mean.
C.P. CavafyReturn often and take me, beloved sensation, return and take me - When memory of the body awakens, and old desire again runs through the blood; when the lips and skin remember, and the hands feel as if they touch again.
C.P. CavafyAnd if you can't shape your life the way you want, at least try as much as you can not to degrade it.
C.P. CavafyDonโt mourn your luck thatโs failing now, work gone wrong, your plans all proving deceptive โ donโt mourn them uselessly. As one long prepared, and graced with courage, say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving. Above all, donโt fool yourself, donโt say it was a dream, your ears deceived you: donโt degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
C.P. Cavafy