The work on this book has been a great challenge for me and at the same time a gain: to review, to mentally walk again all the paths I have taken - partly forgotten for a long time or repressed.

To realize why I maintained my course at a certain station. To recall a crossroads and to search for the reasons why I instinctively turned and did not seek another road.

To examine today - knowing the outcomes of past decisions - whether they corresponded to the intentions I had back then and whether they led to the goal.

[Excerpt from the text of the preface]