This is one of those strange essays by Pierre-Alain Gouanvic.
When you get older, you will be taught about a man who lived more than 2000 years ago in Greece, in the city of Athens. He was annoying for many people and he accepted to be condemned to a death sentence. For him, it was not a cross, but a poison, that killed him.
Here are the secrets that he would like you to remember when the adults start to talk about him. Keep those secrets to yourself, because many adults would condemn these ideas and would like to protect you from them, like Athenians tried to protect the young from him at that time.
First, when you learn something, you remember at the same time. No adult has spoken to you about the life you lived when you were younger, or about how it was when you were in your mother's belly, or before. Socrates wants you to trust that there are things that you know and that you already knew well before you were born, even though you were like a tiny little fish in the beginning. Socrates' mother was a midwife. A midwife, at that time, was someone who was specialized in love (between men and and women who wanted to give birth to a child) and about the ways to help this child come to life. Socrates said he was a fan of his mother, and of what she did for a living. Imagine! She was a specialist of the art of giving birth, and she gave birth to him! He must have been a very loved child.
And he wants you to know that when you learn new things, in a beautiful way, you are just remembering. He wants you to feel calm and confident before this huge world, because you have it inside of you, as true as you are part of it. This is a very difficult thought to keep when you feel so small, or annoyed, or revolted, when you are in front of new knowledges. But just remember the dreams you have and had when you were younger and you'll feel all warm inside, and confident.
But knowledge can be boring.
There's also the real things, the way you live, the way you talk with others at school, those other kids who want to hit you or say bad things about you or want you to be all alone. Adults also have these problems, you know? and you should always look for other kids or adults to protect you, because there are so many people around you who would love to help and be friends with you if only they knew.
Socrates wants you to know another thing, that is very important as well. Some dreams also happen when you're awake, even very awake. It feels like mom or dad is calling you, except that they're not around, and you know someone is talking to you. Do you remember hearing those voices? Don't worry if you don't. Perhaps you'll remember, perhaps someone will tell you about those voices, and you'll know it makes sense.
Socrates wants you to pay attention to these little messages. For him, it was very important. He says he avoided plenty of trouble because he listened to his little voice. His voice was not like an adult, so strong and full of authority. It said: "I think you should not do that". It's annoying to be told not to do a thing. But he felt like listening to this little voice anyways. He wants you to know that, for him, this voice helped him every minute of his life, because it protected him from bad choices. He was not stupid for sure, everybody knew he was very clever. He went on listening to his little voice's advice because he found out that he was better off because he listened to it.
