If thou will not fight thy battle of life because in selfishness thou art afraid of the battle, thy resolution is in vain: nature will compel thee.

From The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Juan Mascaró, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1962, p. 120.

Addendum (January 24, 2016)

Krishna’s words are surprisingly fresh in my mind whenever I come across them. What surprises me most of all is the date when this quote was plucked from one of my favorite books of old. I decided to abandon the battle against crooked golf in Motovun four months later, but then I was compelled to rejoin the battle by the end of the year. In retrospect, Krishna’s reminder sounded almost miraculous. Just before the municipal elections, in which I played a conspicuous part, the then mayor of the hilltown came up with no less than three court cases against me, which were resolved in Croatian courts only six years later. The saga continues to this day, though, because I ultimately took Croatia to the court in Strasbourg. My human rights were trampled by the mayor and his political patrons in Istria and the Croatian capital, where golf was concocted into yet another scam to enrich the corrupt political elite. I expect the final decision sometime this year, but I rarely think about it. Whatever the court ultimately decides will be fine with me at this stage. At long last, nature cannot compel me to fight any longer. By now, Krishna is but a good friend of mine. And enlightenment now strikes me as a piece of cake.