“When we accept our limits, we can go beyond them.” (Albert Einstein)

“When we accept our limits, we can go beyond them.” (Albert Einstein) Sometimes all we need to start the day is a kind word or an inspiring thought. A morning message can help us get our minds straight or find the courage to face daily challenges. In the words of Lao-Tzu, who was a Chinese philosopher who wrote the main work of Taoism, The Book of the Perfect Path (Tao Te Ching), dating from the 6th century BC, “Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom. Controlling others is strength, controlling yourself is true power.” All over the world, there is an essential principle for everyone who surfs the internet: it is a myth to assume that everything that circulates on the Internet is true. Quite the opposite. Even though lies, misrepresentation of facts, lack of impartiality, or propaganda are found repeatedly throughout history. As Plato said: “The most indispensable thing for a man is to recognize the use he must make of his own knowledge.” In fact, to reflect well on the present and possible futures, we have to start by understanding our past. As they are unaware of the depth of the past, systematic errors are made and useless, if not harmful, diagnoses are announced, not realizing that for a better future to be possible, we must carefully consider the factors that explain it - and those who don't explain- so that we can outline our future. As William Shakespeare said: “the past and the future always seem better to us; the present, always worse.” Let’s enter the week that marks 50 years since “April 25, 1974”, whoever lived it intensely as I did, is much more than a date. The day and all that followed changed the “times” of the Portuguese and my own time. Democracy is a good that only those who lived under a dictatorship know and know its exact value. As Umberto Eco said, “not all truths are for all ears.” What happened last week in Portugal, with the “so-called fiscal shock of the government of Montenegro” – in which it was quickly discovered that around 90% of the announced IRS reduction was already being implemented in the 2024 state budget – in revealing the “anxiety” of seeking “always the opinion” to the detriment of “being”, with all this, respect for the truth and, more importantly, the credibility of politicians is lost. I know that not everyone has the same perception, but in the end, as we know, the reality of life will always overcome any type of illusion. “When politics becomes too dependent on perceptions, it risks limiting itself to selling illusions – and disconnecting from reality.” (Rui Tavares Guedes – in Visão magazine)