Know Thyself: Ancient Quest for Self-Knowledge

PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin
AY: 2014-2015: First Semester
1
CHAPTER 1: INTRAPERSONAL DIMENSION
Lecture 1: The Human Person and the Self
“Know Thyself”
Man's Ancient Quest for Self Knowledge
‘Know Thyself’ was written on the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Legend tells
that the seven sages of ancient Greece, philosophers, statesmen and law-givers who laid the
foundation for western culture, gathered in Delphi to inscribed ‘know thyself’ at the entry to its
sacred oracle. The adage subsequently became a touch-stone for western philosophers, and
extended its reach as the influence of Greek philosophy expanded. This site gathers its most
profound expressions and elaborates on their meaning.
Self-knowledge is all-encompassing. What is learned on one scale of experience can be
applied to all scales. It is the highest form of knowledge, surpassing all other knowledge. Self-
knowledge is also timeless, which means that what is gained in one era, benefits all subsequent
generations. This compilation reveals the universal nature of man’s quest for self-knowledge and
further shows that no age of mankind was necessarily any closer or farther from this quest than any
other.
Although we may be technologically more sophisticated than our ancestors, the age
we inhabit is in the same relationship as previous eras to this quest.
When asked what was the most difficult thing, Thales replied, “To know thyself.”
When asked what was easiest, he replied, “To give advice.”
Since it is known that Solon, one of the seven sages, received his education in Egypt, know
thyself might well have been coined earlier than commonly thought, when the ancient Egyptians
took their first steps towards civilization. Furthermore, the Hindus in the east developed their
system of philosophy before the Greek civilization, and knowledge of the Self took a prominent
position in their writings.
Wherever and whenever the adage originated, Know Thyself was universally adopted and
placed at the foundation of knowledge, the corner stone on which, the temples of philosophy should
be erected. “The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge,” claimed the Greek philosopher Plato.
Centuries before him, the Hindu Upanishads confirmed, “Enquiry into the truth of the Self is
knowledge.” Leagues away and centuries later, the Persian poet Rumi wondered, “Who am I in the
midst of all this thought traffic?” and the American poet Walt Whitman celebrated his Self, “a
simple, separate person.”

2
This two-word imperative traveled from antiquity and throughout history to the present
day. Like a golden thread in a multi-colored fabric, Know Thyself wove its course through races and
cultures, through religious and secular traditions, spanning spiritual and scientific teachings and
appearing in art and literature. Indeed, the ancient adage was declared in almost every medium on
every continent and in every era.
Know thyself has often been a corner stone rejected. “Can one know oneself” wondered the
French poetess George Sand. “Is one ever somebody?” “When will I ever see that Am that I Am?”
lamented the poet Rumi. Scores of poets and philosophers dedicated their lives to inquiring about
the Self, seeking its elusive mysteries, digging deep to unearth that hidden stone without which all
construction would be in vain. Some attained remarkable results, attested to by the legacy of their
works. Others never found an end to their quest. “I have an inner self of which I was ignorant,”
confesses the Bohemian–Austrian poet Rilke in his diary, while the ninety-year-old art-historian
Bernard Berenson tells a different story:
Yet, who is the real I, where does he hide from ME? I know who he is not, but how and what
and if at all HE is, I have never discovered although for more than seventy years I have been looking
for him.
It is the sincerity of such remarks as Berenson’s that touch the reader and direct his
attention inwards, asking himself the very questions these authors posed in their times.
Profound sayings on Know Thyself invite contemplation. They profess that Truth stands the
test of time, bypassing the ages and connecting us with the authors who expressed them. They
spark our curiosity to learn more about the men and women who struggled before us, who strove in
their times to find a firm foundation of truth, as we do today. They prove timelessly relevant and
open doors into further inquiry of our true nature. They confirm that, despite the passage
of millennia, man’s struggles have essentially remained the same: man is, and always has been, a
being in search of truth and identity.
Moreover, expressions of self-knowledge call us to action. “‘Know Thyself’ was written over
the portal of the antique world,” said the Irish writer Oscar Wilde–more than two thousand years
after the seven sages inscribed it on the forecourt of their oracle. “Over the portal of the new world,
‘Be Thyself’ shall be written.”
Authors on Know Thyself
Bayazid Bastami

3
Bayazid Bastami, also known as Abu Yazid Bistami or Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bustami, (804-
874 or 877/8 CE) was a Persian Sufi born in Bastam, Iran. When Bayazid died he was over seventy
years old. Before he died, someone asked him his age. He said: “I am four years old. For seventy
years I was veiled. I got rid of my veils only four years ago.”
They asked Bayazid, “When does a man become a man?” He said, “When he knows the mistakes of his self and he
busies himself in correcting them.”
Twelve years I have been smith of myself, until I have made of myself a clear mirror.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian Sayings: Man, know thyself, and thou shalt know the Gods.
Ancient Egyptian Sayings: The body is the temple of the God within you; therefore it is said, ‘Man: know thyself.
Coffin Texts, Spell 848: You are one who knows yourself.
The Ancient Egyptian civilization is considered the first and foremost of cultures. From
approx. 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh,
the history of ancient Egypt occurred in a series of Kingdoms: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze
Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age.
Egypt reached its pinnacle during the New Kingdom, in the Ramesside period. From Ancient Egypt,
came classical writings and treatises which we know today as the Coffin Texts, the Pyramid Texts,
Amduat, Egyptian Book of the Dead, etc. The Ancient Egyptian culture, traditions, rituals and
religion served as the source and foundation for almost all subsequent traditions, cultures and
religions, East and West.
Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita (Song of God), is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient
Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata. The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna, a manifestation of
God Himself.
Wake up! Be thyself!
The glory of the Self is beheld by few.
The context of the Gita is a conversation between Lord Krishna and prince Arjuna, taking
place in the middle of the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra War with armies on both
sides ready to battle. Responding to Arjuna’s confusion and moral dilemma about fighting his own
cousins who command a tyranny imposed on a disputed empire, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna

4
his duties as a warrior and prince, and explains different ways in which the soul can reach the
supreme being.
The Self is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change.
This is true knowledge, to seek the Self as the true end of wisdom always. To seek anything else is ignorance.
Confucius
Confucius (traditionally 28 September 551 BC – 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social
philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Periods. His philosophy emphasized personal and
governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values
gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism or Taoism during the Han
Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). Confucius’ thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy
known as Confucianism.
When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
Drawing from earlier teachings, among which was the I-Ching, Confucius established a set of
moral principles by which a state could be governed. This system answered the needs of his time,
for China was in a warring state period of disunity. Later Chinese dynasties would draw heavily
from his heritage and establish one of the most well-ordered empires in the history of mankind.
A fundamental thread of Confucius’ precepts was that the government of man and of a state
we identical. Thus, a ruler could only govern a country in so far as he could govern himself, and vice
versa. Self-knowledge was naturally an integral part of this teaching, alerting the ruler to both his
own human nature and that of his subjects.
The Forbidden City in Beijing stands as an architectural testament to the order and
hierarchy of Confucius’ percepts, as expressed by the Ming Dynasty of the 16th century. A unique
conglomeration of hierarchical buildings, as well as intimate and public spaces, form a miniature
world from which the emperor governed his empire.
Epictetus
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
Epictetus (AD 55 – AD 135) was a Greek sage and Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at
Hierapolis, Phrygia, and lived in Rome until banishment when he went to Nicopolis in northwestern
Greece where he lived the rest of his life. His teachings were noted down and published by his pupil
Arrian. Epictetus’ most well-know works are his Discourses and Enchiridion. Philosophy, he taught,

5
is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. Epictetus maintained that the foundation of all
philosophy is self-knowledge.
In contemplating thyself, never include the body which surrounds you.
Poor wretch, you carry about a god within you, and know nothing of it.
Kashani
Afdal al-Din Kashani (c. 12th century C.E.) was a Sufi mystic, poet and teacher. Although the
information on his life is sparse, Kashani’s teaching focused on self-knowledge, or knowledge of the
Self, and that the realization of the Divine can only take place through self-awareness, and that this
in turn, can only be realized by the training of the soul. His tomb, located in the village Maraq, near
Kashan, is still a place of pilgrimage.
To know oneself is to know the everlasting reality that is consciousness, and to know it is to be it.
Strive and become near to whatever you know to be better for self, and flee and seek distance from everything
you recognize is bad for self.
No matter how clear things can appear to be, the self is clearer than the things.
The Sufis were the mystical dimension of Islam. As a consequence they were often banned
from holy places or persecuted by traditional Muslims, despite their adherence to the same
religious text and founder. The Sufis saw the Self and the Divine as one and the same. The
omnipresent Allah, that permeated all creation, manifested in man in the form of his higher Self.
Therefore, to know oneself and to know God were equivalent pursuits. Know Thyself was
considered the path to God-realization.
Strive and become near to whatever you know to be better for self, and flee and seek distance from everything
you recognize is bad for self. There is nothing more blessed than struggle.
Turn the face of searching totally toward the destination and objective of self.
The implications of equating the Self with God are significant: all one’s prayers to God are, in
fact, prayers to one’s higher Self. All sacrifices made on Allah’s behalf are made for one’s higher Self.
“To know oneself is to be oneself,” says Kashani. This implies that he who knows himself becomes
God, the Lord of his own cosmos.
Thus, the worship of Muslims adhering to Sufism took a more internal and invisible form
than popular Islam, for they directed their efforts of worship to an internal manifestation of Allah.

6
Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra (born October 22, 1946) is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and
writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. He began his career as
an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own
medical center, with a focus on mind-body connections. He is also a lecturer at the Update in
Internal Medicine event, sponsored by Harvard Medical School’s Department of Continuing
Education and the Department of Medicine.
Who am I? is the only question worth asking and the only one never answered.
Ibn Arabi
When you enter into His Paradise you enter into yourself.
Mystic, philosopher, poet, sage, Muhammad Ali Ibn Arabi (1165 AD -1240 AD) is one of the
world’s great spiritual teachers. Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-
Akbar (the Greatest Master). He wrote over 350 works including the Fusûs al-Hikam, an exposition
of the inner-meaning of the wisdom of the prophets in the Judaic-Christian-Islamic line, and the
Futûhât al-Makkiyya, a vast encyclopedia of spiritual knowledge which unites and distinguishes the
three strands of tradition, reason and mystical insight. He died in Damascus, revered and respected
among his contemporaries, leaving a rich and profound legacy of works.
My voyage was only in myself, and only pointed to myself. This is a journey to increase knowledge and open the
eye of understanding.
Ib’n Arabi he was born in Andalusia, the center of an extraordinary flourishing and cross-
fertilization of Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, through which the major scientific and
philosophical works of antiquity were transmitted to Northern Europe. Ib’n Arabi’s spiritual
attainments were evident from an early age, and he was renowned for his great visionary capacity
as well as being a superlative teacher.
In his Diwân and Tarjumân al-Ashwâq he also wrote some of the finest poetry in the Arabic
language. These extensive writings provide an exposition of the Unity of Being, the single and
indivisible reality which simultaneously transcends and is manifested in all the images of the world.
Ibn ‘Arabi shows how Man, in perfection, is the complete image of this reality and how those who
truly know themselves know God.
Lao Tzu
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

7
Lao Tzu was a philosopher in ancient China and the author of the Tao Te Ch’ing. He is also
revered as a deity in most religious forms of Taoist philosophy. According to Chinese traditions,
Lao Tzu lived in the 6th century B.C. Some say that Lao Tzu is a synthesis of multiple historical
figures, or that he is a mythical figure, or that he actually lived in the 5th-4th century B.C.,
concurrent with the Hundred Schools of Thought and Warring States Period. He was honored as an
ancestor of the Tang imperial family, and was granted the title Taishang xuanyuan huangdi,
meaning “Supreme Mysterious and Primordial Emperor”. Xuanyuan and Huangdi are also, the
personal and proper names of the Yellow Emperor.
Meher Baba
Meher Baba (February 25, 1894 – January 31, 1969), born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an
Indian spiritual leader and mystic. He led a normal childhood, showing no particular inclination
toward spiritual matters. At the age of 19, a brief contact with the Muslim holy woman Hazrat
Babajan began his seven-year process of spiritual transformation. Over the next months, he
contacted four additional spiritual figures whom, along with Babajan, he called “the five Perfect
Masters.” He spent seven years with Upasni Maharaj, one of the masters, before forming his
ministry and publicly teaching. ‘Meher Baba’ is Persian for “Compassionate Father”.
To know reality is to become it.
According to the law that governs the universe, all sufferings are your labor of love to unveil
your real self.
The ‘I’ has to get rid of the falseness before it can realize who it is in reality.
The mind creates false impressions and makes the real “I” think itself false.
When you surrender all falseness you inherit the Truth that you really are.
Meher Baba took a vow of silence that laster forty-four years, till his death. “Things that are
real are given and received in silence,” he said. He taught by using a letter-board, dedicating much
of his efforts to helping the poor casts of India. Baba disregarded the difference in cast and claimed
all possessed the possibility of having a soul, whether rich or poor, sick or healthy.
In his writings, Meher Baba considers the Self equivalent to god-realization, real ‘I’ and
truth. Hence, the command know thyself appears often in his teaching, under synonymous
attributes. Baba outlines the internal struggle necessary for extracting real ‘I’ from the veils of
illusion that normally cover it. He points the way to the self as indirect: by removing the veils of
illusion one reveals one’s true Self.

8
Do not pretend to be what you are not. God forgives everything except hypocrisy.
Heraclitus
Heraclitus (c. 535 – c. 475 BCE) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, born to an
aristocratic family in Ephesus, present-day Turkey. Little is known about his early life and
education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom. He is famous for his
insistence on ever-present change in the universe, as stated in his famous saying, “No man ever
steps in the same river twice” .
All men have the capacity of knowing themselves.
Osho
The man who does not love himself hates.
Osho (11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990), born Chandra Mohan Jain, and also known as
Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and
1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian spiritual teacher who attracted an international
following. His outspoken criticism of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi and institutionalised religions
made him controversial. In his discourses, he reinterpreted writings of religious traditions, mystics,
and philosophers from around the world.
The ego is not your real self; the ego is a false entity, arbitrary. It is the ego that is your sleep, that surrounds you
like darkness, like a cloud. Hidden behind this darkness is your real self, your real being, which wants to wake up,
which wants to get our of all this smoke, out of all this darkness, which want to get out of the prison of the ego.
Paracelsus
Our uncertainty about ourselves is at the base of our uncertainty of all things.
Paracelsus (born Philippus von Hohenheim, 11 November or 17 December 1493 – 24
September 1541) was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and
occultist. “Paracelsus”, meaning “equal to or greater than Celsus”, refers to the Roman encyclopedist
Aulus Cornelius Celsus from the 1st century, known for his tract on medicine. He is also credited for
giving zinc its name, calling it zincum, and is regarded as the first systematic botanist.

9
Plato
I must first know myself, as the Delphian inscription says; to be curious about that which is not my concern, while
I am still in ignorance of my own self would be ridiculous.
Plato (424/423 BC – 348/347 BC), was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician,
student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the
first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his
student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.
“The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge,” said Plato. Since Socrates never wrote, and
since our knowledge of his teaching comes through the pen of others such as Plato, it is difficult to
draw the line between what the one said and the other. Be that as it may, in his works, Plato
repeatedly reiterates his teacher’s call to self-knowledge:
I may be a simpleton, but in my opinion, only that knowledge which is of being and of the unseen, can make the
soul look upwards.
Inexpressible Self-knowledge
“I feared to see myself at last altogether nothing but words,” confessed Plato in one of his
works. Words, after all, are only labels that point to another reality. Naked truth must therefore be
wordless, and the philosopher in search of truth must watch lest he bury the treasure he seeks
under the debris of words.
At times, Plato’s inquiries into the Self echo the Hindu Upanishads, wherein the Self is
contrasted by the body. The path to self-knowledge, then, is described as identical to the effort of
dissecting body from soul:
If man’s attention is centered on appetite … all his thoughts are bound to be mortal and he can hardly fail to
become entirely mortal.
Philosophy as the means to Self-knowledge
The Self exists as a potential to be realized. Plato expresses this poetically: “The soul is a
helpless prisoner, chained hand and foot in the body, compelled to view reality not directly, but
only through its prison bars, and wallowing in utter ignorance,” he says. “Philosophy takes over the
soul in this condition and encourages it to collect and concentrate itself by itself, trusting nothing
but its own independent judgment.” Philosophy is, therefore, the art and science of dissecting soul
from body. It is a task available to all yet pursued by few:
In every man there is an eye of the soul which is more precious than ten thousand bodily eyes.

10
Finally, as an encouraging teacher, Plato promises a reward for those who persist in
attaining self-knowledge. Although difficult, the end justifies the means and the darkness of self-
ignorance can be dispelled by the intelligent guidance of philosophy:
At last, in a flash, understanding blazes up, and the mind, as it exerts all its powers to the limit of human
capacity, is flooded with light.
Prophet Muhammad
Whoever knows himself knows God.
Muhammad (26 April 570 – 8 June 632) was the founder of Islam. In the Muslim tradition,
Muhammad was a messenger and prophet of God. He was also a social reformer, diplomat,
merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian and philanthropist. By the
time of Muhammad’s death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, and the tribes of
Arabia had united into a single Muslim religious polity.
Saint Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-
gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books
known as the Nag Hammadi library.
The Gospel of Thomas (as it is usually known) was found among a collection of fifty-two
writings that included, in addition to an excerpt from Plato’s Republic, gospels claiming to have
been written by Jesus’ disciple Philip. The Coptic text is composed of 114 sayings attributed to
Jesus. The introduction states: “These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos
Judas Thomas wrote them down.”
If you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty and you are poverty.
Socrates
Socrates (c. 469 BC – 399 BC) was a classical Greek philosopher and is one of the founders
of Western philosophy. He is known chiefly through the writings of his students Plato and
Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. He influenced subsequent philosophers
by his approach to logic (named the Socratic Method) and his infamous trial and subsequent
execution, as described by Plato.

11
Socrates on Know Thyself
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
“Wisdom begins with wonder,” said Socrates. Through dialogue, he led his audience to
passionate inquiry of existence and identity. His speech maintained a humble tone, claiming, to the
surprise of his listeners, that he knew nothing. In his mind, one could not know anything without
knowing one’s self. Thus, the Seven Sages of Greece, who had inscribed know thyself in the
forecourt of the Delphic oracle a few generations before Socrates, had challenged all subsequent
philosophers to attain self-knowledge before knowing anything else. Socrates embraced this
ancient challenge humbly:
I am not yet able, as the Delphic inscription has it, to know myself; so it seems to me ridiculous, when I do not yet
know that, to investigate irrelevant things.
Care first about the greatest perfection of the soul.
“What I want to discover at present,” said Socrates, “is the art which devotes its attention to
precision, exactness, and the fullest truth.” His philosophical inquiry was, therefore, dedicated to
truth, foremost the truth about himself. By publicly admitting his self-ignorance, he made his
audience aware of their own.
Thales
The most difficult thing in life is, to know yourself.
Thales of Miletus (c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus
in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the
first philosopher in the Greek tradition.
The Koran
The Koran (translated as “the recitation”) is the central religious text of Islam. The Koran
was revealed to Muhammad over a period of approximately 23 years beginning in 610 CE, when he
was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. The Koran is divided into 114 suras of
unequal length, which are classified either as Meccan or Medina depending upon their place and
time of revelation. It is one of the finest and most beautiful pieces of literature in the Arabic
language.
And do thou, O Muhammad, remember thy Lord within thyself.

12
Upanishads
Katha Upanishad: The Self lies beyond the senses and can only be understood by him who knows It is.
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent.
Hinduism is known to its followers as Sanatana Dharma (“the eternal law”). Hinduism is formed of
diverse traditions and has no single founder. A large body of texts is classified as Hindu, divided
into Sruti (“revealed”) and Smriti (“remembered”). Among these texts, the Vedas are the foremost
in authority, importance and antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Upanishads, Puranas and
the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Etymologically, the Sanskrit word “Upanishads” suggests “sitting down near,” as in a
disciple sitting at the feet of his master. This is a common form of Hindu instruction to this day. The
teaching is, accordingly, presented in dialogue form; a wife speaking to her husband or a son to his
father. Through common interaction, the Upanishads weave the most profound instruction.
Upanishads on Know Thyself
The Katha Upanishads portrays a story of Yama (or Death) teaching a young and curious
boy called Nachiketa about the mysteries of the Self. Nachiketa, having witnessed his father’s
pointless traditional observance of Hindu custom, inquires with Yama whether it is possible to
survive death, and if so, by which means. A profound dialogue follows, centered around the Self:
Katha Upanishad: Those who realize the Self are forever free from the jaws of death.
“This doubt haunted even the gods of old,” says Yama to Nachiketa, “For the secret of death
is hard to know.” In the course of the dialogue, Yama draws a line between the body, which
experiences reality through the senses, and the spirit, which transcends sensual perception.
“[Those] hypnotized by the world of sense [say], ‘I am my body; when my body dies, I die.’ Living in
this superstition, they fall life after life under my sway.”
According to Yama, the key to surviving death is transferring one’s identity from the bodily
senses to the metaphysical Self. ” Well have you renounced these passing pleasures so dear to the
senses,” he tells the young boy, “And turned your back on the way of the world that makes mankind
forget the goal of life.”
A sage withdrew his senses from the world
Of change and, seeking immortality,
Looked within and beheld the deathless Self.
The Self is the goal of life; attain this goal.

13
Yama outlines a specific practice for this end, and names it after the courageous young boy
Nachiketa. This would lay the foundation for subsequent Indian ritual and exercises, such as
meditation and recitation of mantras.
Those who know the Self become the Self.
Knowing the Self
Knowing the Self is the underlying current of the Upanishads, presented as the ultimate goal
of life. Thus does a Hindu teaching, far away in space and time from Classical Greece, coin the very
same wisdom as conveyed from the Socratic dialogues. After all, what is objectively true must hold
true for all people in all times. If, indeed, is self-knowledge is truly the essence of all knowledge, all
cultures and civilization who genuinely inquired in the nature of truth must have found similar
results.
Ramayana: Enquiry into the truth of the Self is knowledge.
William Shakespeare
Of all knowledge, the wise and good seek most to know themselves.
Thou sleep’st: awake, and see thyself.
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
William Shakespeare (baptized 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616)was an English poet and
playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-
eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. His surviving
works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative
poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language
and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
I know myself now, and I feel within me A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience.
Zen Masters

14
The Self is the goal of life; attain this goal.
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism originating in China during the 6th century AD. From
China, Zen spread to Vietnam, Korea and Japan. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of
the Chinese word Chan, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyana, which is
approximately translated as “absorption” or “meditative state”. Zen emphasizes practical wisdom in
the attainment of enlightenment. The teachings of Zen include the Prajnaparamita literature,
Madhyamaka, Yogacara and the Tathagatagarbha Sutras.
Those who know the Self become the Self.
Benjamin Franklin
There are three Things extremely hard, Steel, a Diamond, and to know one’s self.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers
of the United States. He was an author, printer, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor,
satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. Among Franklin’s inventions are the lightning rod,
bifocals and the Franklin stove. He is also known as “The First American” for his campaigning for
colonial unity; as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies, then as the first United
States Ambassador to France.
Observe all men; thy self most.
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) was an 18th-century English poet, best
known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently
quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is
famous for his use of the heroic couplet.
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, the proper study of Mankind is Man.
Farid Attar
Abu Hamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahim (1145-1146 – c. 1221), better known by his pen-names
Farid ud-Din Attar (“the perfumer”), was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer
from Nishapur who had an abiding influence on Persian poetry and Sufism. His best known work is
The Conference of the Birds.

15
If while living you fail to find your self, to know your self, how will you be able to understand the secret of your
existence when you die?
Hans Christian Andersen
What a mystery I am to myself!
Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was a Danish author, fairy tale
writer, and poet noted for his children’s stories. These include “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” “The
Snow Queen,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Thumbelina,” “The Little Match Girl,” and “The Ugly Duckling.”
During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted children worldwide, and was feted by
royalty. Shortly before his death, he had consulted a composer about the music for his funeral,
saying: “Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with
little steps.”
Joshua Reynolds
And he who does not know himself does not know others, so it may be said with equal truth, that he who does not
know others knows himself but very imperfectly.
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an influential 18th-century
English painter, specializing in portraits and promoting the “Grand Style” in painting which
depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the
Royal Academy. King George III knighted him in 1769.
Michel de Montaigne
If the soul knew anything, it would first of all know itself.
Lord Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592) was one of
the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a
literary genre. His massive volume Essays contains, some of the most widely influential essays ever
written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, including René Descartes,
Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Isaac Asimov, and
perhaps even William Shakespeare.
If I study, it is for no other science than which deals with the knowledge of myself.

16
Lewis Carroll
Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.
The Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832–14 January 1898), better known by
his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, was an author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and
photographer. His most famous writings are Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the
Looking-Glass, as well as the poems The Hunting of the Snark and Jabberwocky. He is also noted for
his word play and logic.
Peter Ouspensky
To know oneself—this was the first principle and the first demand of old psychological schools. We still
remember these words, but have lost their meaning.
The most fundamental thing is to know oneself, although if certain things do not change you cannot know
yourself.
Peter Demianovich Ouspensky (March 4, 1878–October 2, 1947) was a Russian esotericist
knownfor his exposition of the early work of George Gurdjieff.Ouspensky studied with Gurdjieff for
ten years, from 1915 to 1924. Around 1930 Ouspensky moved to London where he began to teach
the Fourth Way. His best known works include, The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution, In
Search of the Miraculous, The Fourth Way and A Further Record.
Ouspensky on Know Thyself
Ouspensky outlined the path to self-knowledge before his students. Man, in his normal
condition, was ignorant of himself – a ‘lying’ machine, according to one of his definitions. Self-
knowledge was too high to serve as a beginning step; self-study was where man could begin, in
observing himself and compiling a collection of ‘photographs’ that captures his unconscious
behaviour in different moments of the day.
We think that to know ourselves, means to know our peculiarities, our desires, our tastes, our capacities and our
intentions.
To know oneself is a long process. First we must study.
Very soon after starting to observe himself, a man will begin to distinguish useful features and harmful features
in himself, that is, useful or harmful from the point of view of his possible self-knowledge, his possible awakening,
his possible development. He will see sides of himself, which can become conscious, and sides which cannot
become conscious and must be eliminated.

17
Nazarius of Valaam
Pride settles into a man when he does not yet know himself perfectly.
Abbot Nazarius of Valaam (1735-1809) was born in Russia, in the village of Anosov. In his
youth he was noted for his piety, and when he was seventeen years old he entered Sarov Hermitage.
In 1760 he was tonsured a monk and in 1776 he was ordained. Late in 1774 he became a recluse
living in a cabin in the Sarov woods. In 1782, Fr. Nazarius was called by the Metropolitan Gabriel to
become Abbot of Valaam Monastery which, at that time was in decline. Fr. Nazarius traveled to St.
Petersburg and, much against his own desire, was confirmed as Abbot of Valaam. During his 20
years as abbot, the monastery was rebuilt and flourished. Valaam became such a citadel of
Orthodox spirituality that it was named the “Athos of the North.” Some monks from Mt. Athos
visited Valaam and marveled at the life there, preferring it even to that of the Holy Mountain.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer,
and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was a champion of
individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society. Emerson gradually
moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing
the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature. His speech entitled The American
Scholar in 1837, was described by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. as America’s “Intellectual Declaration
of Independence”.
Wherever we go, whatever we do, self is the sole subject we study and learn.
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller (1608 – 16 August 1661) was an English churchman and historian. He is now
remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death. He
was a prolific author, and one of the first English writers able to live by his pen. His widely
acknowledged sense of humour kept him from extremes. “By his particular temper and
management,” said Laurence Echard in his History of England, “he weathered the late great storm
with more success than many other great men.”
First get an absolute conquest over thyself.
Walt Whitman

18
When shows break up what but One’s Self is sure?
Walter “Walt” Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist
and journalist. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the
father of free verse. Born on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government
clerk, and–in addition to publishing his poetry–was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil
War. Whitman’s major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The
work is an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892.
What you are picks its way.
One’s Self I sing; a simple separate person.
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926) was a
Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is one of the most significant poets in the German language. He wrote
in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. Among English-language readers, his best-known work is
the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose works are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-
autobiographical Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge.
I have an inner self of which I was ignorant.
Bernard Berenson
Yet, who is the real I, where does he hide from ME? I know who he is not, but how and what and if at all HE is, I
have never discovered although for more than seventy years I have been looking for him.
Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian who
specialized in the Renaissance. He was a major figure in pioneering art attribution and therefore
establishing the market for paintings by the “Old Masters” in the West. Berenson kept a diary
throughout his life, replete with artistic, psychological and philosophical remarks.
Oscar Wilde
Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; an true progress is to know more,
and do more, and be more.
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish
writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London’s

19
most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, plays and
the circumstances of his imprisonment, followed by his early death. Among his best known works
are The Happy Prince, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady
Windermere’s Fan.
‘Know Thyself’ was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, ‘Be Thyself’
shall be written.
The message of Christ to man was simply “Be Thyself.” That is the secret of Christ.
Reference:
http://thyselfknow.com/

Know Thyself: Ancient Quest for Self-Knowledge

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (20)

Ähnlich wie Know Thyself: Ancient Quest for Self-Knowledge

Ähnlich wie Know Thyself: Ancient Quest for Self-Knowledge (16)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (7)

Know Thyself: Ancient Quest for Self-Knowledge