Delphic Maxim of the Week 5/15

Know Yourself | Σαυτὸν ἴσθι

Delphic Maxim of the Week: Know Yourself

“This is probably the most well known of the Delphic Maxims, Know Yourself, or also Be Yourself. Knowing yourself and Being yourself are here one and the same, or, two expressions of the same idea. If you look at the former two maxims, looking inward in knowledge and being aware of the world around you, you can then as the next step develop an understanding of who you are, and what your place in the world is. In the teachings of Platonism and Stoicism it is assumed that people have a sort of a True Nature, and we can find inner peace, when we understand and follow this Inner True Nature, when we refine it. Knowing yourself and being authentic are the true pathways of the Light.Thus the Eighth Maxim is one of the most vital ones: if you do not know yourself, every other understanding is dimmed to you.”