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.
SocratesRead
To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.
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
All quotes βThe poets are only the interpreters of the gods.
SocratesRead
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.
SocratesRead
The unexamined life is not worth living.
SocratesRead
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.
SocratesRead
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.
SocratesRead
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If one is sufficiently lavish with time, everything possible happens.
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Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Blessed is the mind that jumps over and beyond its own conditioning and lands again into its natural state of unmoving awareness.
MoojiRead
It seems that it is madder never to abandon one's self than often to be infatuated; better to be wounded, a captive and a slave, than always to walk in armor.
Margaret FullerRead
In life, if you don't know the truth, then you can't be free, because then you'll believe that the lies are the truth. But once we realize that when we read the Word of God, and you know the truth of who you are, then I'm not a man without arms and legs. I am a child of God.
Nick VujicicRead
There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home.
John Stuart MillRead