AS FAR AS YOU CAN

And if you can’t make your life as you want,
strive for this at least
as far as you can: don’t degrade it        
through too much association with people,   
through too many pursuits and conversations.

Don’t degrade it by taking it,
circulating often and exposing it                   
to the daily foolishness                                
of social relations and gatherings,                 
till it becomes like a bothersome stranger.

Constantine P. Cavafy, 1913

ART WORK BY YORGOS KORDIS INSPIRED BY THE POEM “AS FAR AS YOU CAN” TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY DAVID CONNOLLY THE NOTEBOOK WAS PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY AIORA PRESS ON THE OCCASION OF THE STUDENT CONFERENCE TO MARK THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF C.P. CAVAFY’S BIRTH ORGANISED BY THE ZOGRAFIO LYCE΄E AND THE MANDOULIDES SCHOOL IN ISTANBUL 11-14 APRIL 2013.