SELF-KNOWLEDGE

See also: Knowledge

Let me know myself, Lord, and I shall know Thee.

Augustine of Hippo

For the gift to see ourselves as others see us.

Prayer of Robbie Burns

A man can know nothing of mankind without knowing something of himself. Self-knowledge is the property of that man whose passions have their full play, but who ponders over their results.

Benjamin Disraeli

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.

Benjamin Disraeli

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.

Benjamin Franklin

The longest journey is the journey within.

Dag Hammarskjold

It has ever been allowed that to know one’s self is the most valuable part of knowledge.

Eliza Haywood

Know thyself.

Inscription over the entrance of the temple of Apollo at Delphi

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Carl Jung

If people can be educated to see the lowly side of their own natures, it may be hoped that they will also learn to understand and to love their fellow men better. A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures.

Carl Jung

What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.

Thomas Merton

One’s own self is well hidden from one’s own self: of all mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be dug up.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Know thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of mankind is man.

Alexander Pope

When you realize that you have nothing and know nothing, then you will become rich in the Lord.

Theognostus

An humble knowledge of thyself is a surer way to God than a deep search after learning.

Thomas à Kempis

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.

Lao Tzu