Socrates said: "Know thyself". What does this mean?

Question

Thanks for sharing your philosophical thoughts. Have a great day!

Answer 1

Know ThySelf..means..Know Yourself..!!!

Answer 2

Each one of us is a small Universe.

We must start from getting to know this great-little soul we own, in order to adjust to environment the best way. One who knows nothing about themselves cannot understand a thing of what is going on around them.  Knowing thyself is or the main and most difficult tasks.  But, I believe, it is the essence of being Alive.

Answer 3

There are many levels to knowing oneself. The first step is to recognize the difference between your thoughts and your emotions.

Answer 4

To know the source of the mind and to abide there is to know ourselves.

Answer 5

It means you should understand yourself. Seriously, how much clearer could that be?

Answer 6

Spiritual growth.  When the time comes that we can see that we aren't "always right", and that we aren't perfect EITHER, then we have started to truly know ourselves.  We can't truly have compassion on others until we can see our own humanity, nor can we truly forgive others until we see our own faults.

Answer 7

I believe that one's entire life is a journey towards self-discovery. Everything you do and every experience that you have changes who you are, your perspective of the world and your place in it. With everything constantly changing, figuring out who you are can be a challenge. Here are some steps that can help in knowing ones self: have a set of beliefs, learn from past experiences, expand horizons, gain perspective from others and be be open to changes.

Answer 8

i think it means know yourself ,some people are unaware of their abilities  

Answer 9

Knowing oneself is a journey of learning and understanding what lies deep within our subconscious, our psyche. We cannot truly comprehend why we behave, think, and react in the manner we do if have no knowledge of what lies deep in the recesses of our minds.

He who has conquered his own mind, has gained the world by understanding thereby.

Answer 10

IT means identify what your true self is Know it not guess not think about it but know it. You are not your thoughts but you are because they are not separate from you. You are not your body but you are because it is not separate from you. So what are you? You are You, the only definition of you is what you make it. You are not the world but you are because you cannot exist without the world. So know they self means to know existence as a whole. Know the whole being which you claim as self. Know it but dont just know it after the knowing seek understanding of it and then live in accord with it.

Answer 11

To find out your inner self to the outside world we live in. It is the hardest thing to do in life even before we die.....

People search their whole entire lives looking for something but in reality if they got close to who they truly were their lives would not be as complicated.  Everyone is different we are all special and everyone has gifts from God we just have to realize and believe and love ourselves enough to see them through :)))We must question everything in life and our feelings and emotions and reactions to why we feel this way to the external forces of life and situations and people that begin on the inside know thyself.......................

As Socrates said no one can give us the answers only in knowing thy self can we truly find the answers that we question in our own lives :)))

Answer 12

At a practical level, knowing myself basically implies knowing what I really want. That is what is the most important thing one needs to know about oneself. It is what we want that determines what we do with our life. The trouble is that we never seem to know well enough what exactly we want, which is what gives rise to regrets. We pursue an aim with full sincerity, commitment and belief, and no sooner do we attain it than it suddenly looks less important than something else. The whole exercise of having toiled for something believed to be the most important, turns out to be a waste of time and energy. Therefore, knowing oneself is all about finding out what one really wants in life.

At a deeper philosophical level, the Indian Philosophy talks about searching and knowing self in the context of 'permanent happiness' (Sanskrit word "aanand"). The idea is that once you begin to search your own self, you convert your subject self into an object self, so that you can look at everything concerned with yourself in an objective manner..... this would lead to conquering attachment to self and eradication of the 'rogue' ego..... and that indeed is the formula for the kind of permanent happiness that remains unruffled and unaffected by any events or happening..... this state of being that is unattached to self and self interests, implies true liberation. That is why pursuit of knowing self is considered one of the important means of Moksha or Nirvana. Meditation is the recommended way for such pursuit of self knowledge, because that separates and removes us from all objects around us, so that we can concentrate entirely within our own self.

Answer 13

Bible said it too...

Answer 14

"i think therefor i get confused"

Answer 15

  

  I Love their philanthropy

they really know to give you the

needle *  

but  they are  the RAM'S horns *

  they Travel  as if in the branch  of

  the green  olives  &  follow  the SUN,

and become  the KALA-MATA *

  The  PHILANTHROPY *  THEIR  WALL *

  [ah  I love that TEA SPOON OF

APPLE CIDER *

TO YOUR HEALTH *  [[MAN  *

  [Keeps  LOVE,, IN HER PLACE *

  its thirst,,,[TASTE IT *

  [SALIVA *  CHILD *

TIME TO MOISTER=I=ZOE  * u-self    08*

Answer 16

it is about truly understanding your nature... knowing what your Spirit is saying to you and really listening... and being true to what you have learned...  

Answer 17

Stay true to yourself. Don't try to please others by being someone your not. Be genuine  

Answer 18

In my opinion it means discover yourself. Life is all about self discovery.  

Answer 19

I sometimes use the phrase when someone is being a hippocrite - critizising another's weaknesses but failing to notice that they too have the same faults.

Once we realise we are all capable of thinking, feeling and acting in the same way as others and see that the good and the bad we notice in others is just a reflection of ourselves then we can begin to say we truly know ourselves.

Answer 20

know what you can and can't do know what you believe in know who you are

Answer 21

Man cannot understand his perception of his world until he understands his own mind, thinking and ingrained indoctrination. Why we think, react, behave and hold certain beliefs are all causal factors created by a process of life experiences, interactions and education.

The world as a reflection of mans own state of mind, his spiritual awakening or lack, his personality, soul programmed, etched with the prints s his life journey adventure or trial....

It is when man can understand the above influences and their part in his creation, he is able to comprehend the intricasies of the world in their reality.

Answer 22

To understand yourself is to understand your actions,from this you can view the world with an honest mind

Answer 23

He said that the unexamined life is not worth  living-

Everything in  life is made up of content and process.

Content is all the things - 'the what' of our lives.

Process is everything else "the how" of our lives.

in order to grow and change and get real we have to  look at our own process the how and why of how we come  and peel off all the layers of unrealness which means looking at the self dispassionately as if from outside and watching who we are.What thoughts we believe, What our defence system consist of

Horse trainers watch the beast to see what its nature is before tryingto tame it..

Answer 24

Here's my two cents:

This is a policy of relentless self-analysis. It requires you to note all your ego's defenses (denial, distortion, fantasy, projection and so forth) and to penetrate them all so that you can see what is really you and what is the false you. Then the task becomes fostering the strengths of the real you. Aristotle believed that self-improvement was a moral duty.

Answer 25

So far, they're all wrong I'm sorry to say.  The great Socrates did not mean that every individual should attempt to glean a meaning behind the inherent poetry of this statement.

It means: THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING.  In his days of ancient Greece, this obviously implied that one must become philosophical (even if it's just a modicum) for their life to be worth living.

This represents the joy of separation, you see.  Separation from nature and separation from religion.  Only thusly can we attain a true evaluation of the self.  Once examined, the self can be reinserted into the endeavour you CHOOSE.

Those who "Know thyself" are placing the self into the life and times of their choosing, not the other way around.