Book 5: Chapter 2: Disimprison
“You know the old saying ‘Know thyself’? Dantalian, I believe that this proverb roughly translates to this.”
Barbatos spoke.
“When you’re screwed, you must quickly realize the fact that you’re screwed.”
I nodded.
“That is correct. What is important is how fast you realize this. However, the issue is, Your Excellency Barbatos, is that in order to know whether you are currently screwed or not, you must have had the experience of it beforehand. If one has not already experienced being screwed, then they will either end up being incapable of realizing that they are in a screwed situation, or even if they do realize it, they will realize a step too late. Therefore, in order to know thyself, you must experience being screwed many times.”
“Hm. If you consider the fact that I’ve experienced an incredible amount of screwed up situations in my life, I can’t really disagree with you there.”
Barbatos nodded.
“Continue.”
“Yes, Your Excellency. In conclusion, the term ‘Know thyself’ roughly translates to ‘Be screwed as many times as possible’. However, what is the reason we are trying to listen to proverbs in the first place? Is it not precisely because we do not wish to be screwed? Not only is the proverb ‘Know thyself’ meaningless, but it also destroys the meaning of existence for proverbs themselves. You could also say that it is the most worthless proverb in the world.”