strings: Identification therefore is a form of escape from the self, even as virtue is a form of escape from the self. The man who pursues virtue is escaping from the self and' he has a narrow mind. That is not a virtuous mind, for virtue is something which cannot be pursued. The more you try to become  virtuous, the more strength you give to the self, to the 'me'.  Fear, which is common to most of us in different forms, must always find a substitute and must therefore increase our   struggle. The more you are identified with a substitute, the greater the strength to hold on to that for which you are prepared to struggle, to die, because fear is at the back,