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To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.
Socrates
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding oneself is the foundation of true knowledge and insight.

This quote by Socrates emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and introspection as essential components of wisdom. By knowing oneself deeply, individuals can make better decisions, enhance their understanding of the world, and achieve personal growth, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling life.

Themes

Self-AwarenessWisdomIntrospectionKnowledgeSelf-Discovery

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about personal growth, one might use this quote to inspire self-reflection.

More from Socrates

A system of morality that is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception that has nothing sound in it and nothing true.
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The poets are only the interpreters of the gods.
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I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.
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The unexamined life is not worth living.
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When I was young, I believed that life might unfold in an orderly way, according to my hopes and expectations. But now I understand that the Way winds like a river, always changing, ever onward.. My journeys revealed that the Way itself creates the warrior; that every path leads to peace, every choice to wisdom. And that life has always been, and will always be, arising in Mystery.
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Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued." "It is not living that matters, but living rightly. The unexamined life is not worth living.
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A little wisdom, now and then

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