Know thyself

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A stained glass window with the contracted version γνῶθι σαυτόν.

The Ancient Greek aphorism "Know yourself", Greek: γνῶθι σεαυτόν gnōthi seauton (also ... σαυτόν ... sauton with the ε contracted), was inscribed in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi - according to the Greek periegetic (travelogue) writer Pausanias (10.24.1).

The aphorism has been attributed to at least six ancient Greek sages:

• Chilon of Sparta (Chilon I 63, 25)
• Heraclitus
• Pythagoras
• Socrates
• Solon of Athens
• Thales of Miletus

Other sources attribute it to Phemonoe, a mythical Greek poetess. In a discussion of moderation and self-awareness, the Roman poet Juvenal quotes the phrase in Greek and states that the precept descended de caelo (from heaven) (Satire 11.27).

The saying "Know thyself" may refer by extension to the ideal of understanding human behavior, morals, and thought, because ultimately to understand oneself is to understand other humans as well. However, the ancient Greek philosophers thought that no man can ever comprehend the human spirit and thought thoroughly, so it would have been almost inconceivable to know oneself fully. Therefore, the saying may refer to a less ambitious ideal, such as knowing one's own habits, morals, temperament, ability to control anger, and other aspects of human behavior that we struggle with on a daily basis.

It may also have a mystical interpretation. 'Thyself', is not meant in reference to the egotist, but the ego within self, the I AM consciousness.

In Latin, the aphorism is generally given as nosce te ipsum. The Latin version of the aphorism is written on a plaque above the Oracle's door in the Matrix film series, where it is rendered in a non-traditional Latin; that is to say temet nosce ("thine own self thou must know") translated in the Matrix as know thyself.

In the true theological sense, "Know Thyself" is a fundamental tenet of the question of life's meaning. To truly 'know oneself' in this sense involves a deeply personal, spiritual transformation whereby a person would seek to orient themselves towards understanding their own phenomenological perceptions of reality, so as to gain earnest insight into aspects of one's own existence. Thus the theological sense of "Know Thyself" entails an experiential revolution of spirit in the sense of the Socratic periagoge. (See Allegory of the cave.)

It may also mean just what it says: know yourself -- who you are and what motivates you.

See also

• Introspection
• Self-knowledge
• Self (philosophy)
• Self-realization
• Scio nescio

External links

• Gnothi sauton at Binghamton University
• Philosophical Treatise Know Yourself by Peter Abelard
• Poem Gnothi Seauton by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Poem Know Thyself by Alexander Pope
• Origin of Know thyself [1]
• Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Paperback)[2] by George G. M. James
• Getting to Know Yourself by an unknown Kabbalist in Israel[3]

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