Always keep Ithaca in your mind

 

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your final destination.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better for it to last many years,
and when old to rest in the island,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to offer you wealth.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful journey.
Without her you would not have set out on the road.
Nothing more has she got to give you.

And if you find her threadbare, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

Constantine P. Cavafy
the lines from: The Poem Ithaka