Know thyself
“To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.”– John Dewey
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”– Frederick Buechner
“The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of people who have become wealthy have become so thanks to work they found profoundly absorbing. The long term study of people who eventually became wealthy clearly reveals that their ‘luck’ arose from accidental dedication they had to an arena they enjoyed.”– Srully Blotnick
The Ancient Greek aphorism “Know thyself” (Greek: γνώθι σεαυτόν or gnothi seauton) was inscribed in golden letters at the lintel of the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
In order to understand the above statement well, it will be a good idea for me to shed a little light on some of the terms used in it.
Ancient Greek, this is a time in greek history, 1000 years before christianity. Historians are unaminous that the greek culture was the foundation of the western civilization.
Aphorisms, are concise statements of fact that were made as a result of experience. Axioms are similar statements that come from mere reason and require no proof, while aphorisms are developed based on experience. E.g “A stitch in time, saves nine”
Delphi, was known in ancient mythology to be the centre of the earth.
Temple of Apollo, This is believed to have the makings of an ancient university. Apollo was a god, who had strengths in poetry, medicine, and music. He was the most versatile and most skilled, in greek mythology, of the gods. In entering the Temple of Apollo, you come to interact with knowledge, the reason why you come in, is to know!
Now imagine you are at the entrance into the doors that lead to discovery, to knowledge and perhaps skill. What will you expect to see as a sign on the door? I’ll guess it will be a message telling you about the best attitude to have as a student, or an instruction that will help you make use of all you hear, won’t you? Interestingly, it is the aphorism -”Know thyself”
The first class in the school of knowledge is self awareness! If you don’t know who you are, and what you have, education is useless. The first thing you must know to be teachable is yourself. True education must be targeted first at personal discovery then personal development. “Know thyself!”
If you ever watched the blockburster -”Matrix”. There was a time when Neo had to go visit the oracle, to know if he was the one, to know what the future will be. Can you imagine the sign on the Oracles door? …….Yeah, you guessed right! “Know thyself” -Only it was writen in greek! The future responds only to those who have come to understand themselves. There is a stage for trial and error, typically it’s before you are 21! The Hebrews celebrate the 21st birthday as the age to announce your self discovery! It might be late for you, but it’s never too late until you are the late. “Know thyself”.
Your passions, your talents, your values and the things that give you a sense of destiny! You must know them. Help yourself and find help. There are many gates ahead that will lead into the worlds of your dreams, but the first criteria to enter is simple - “Know thyself”. It is the secret of happiness, it’s the source of true fulfillment. It’s the only way to enjoy your labor.
“Why do you spend … your labor for that which does not satisfy?”– Isaiah 55:1-2
Hello. I am 
I concur with the above assertion.Knowing oneself is the key to unlocking one”s potentials.No matter the aspiration , if the inner self is not understood,one may not be able to acquire the set goals . I also feel that a deep understanding of oneself is important for true happiness.There are hidden potentials , strength etc in the inside of us that we can only tap into if we know and understand our innerman.
pls I made an error when I submitted my comment in respect of been a driver that was recently relieved of his poisition with Australian high Commission,pls the email I submitted was wrongly written,Its suppose to be adeosun_adebayo not adeosun_adeosun pls take note sir the mistake is highly regretted.
I am anxiously waiting for your reply,
thanks for the understanding.
Lovely Piece Deolu. Please permit me to share my thoughts.
Perhaps one of the most important and life changing lessons I have learnt in my stay on earth is that of ’self discovery’. I realized that if it is true that Knowledge is power, then the foundation or the key to the acquisition of knowledge is self-discovery. As a child I once heard one of my Father’s friends say that ‘the best thing that can ever happen to anyone is for them to discover themselves at a very early age.’ True! Knowing oneself means coming into a place of awareness. This happens at different levels. The first level is what in ancient Greek is referred to as *’Gynosko’ - A kind of knowledge or a state of being that depicts full awareness. At this level, there is no shade of uncertainty. You know who you truly are. For example, a child born into royalty may not really know his true status and thus may display contrary behavioral patterns. However, the moment it dawns on him that he is royalty, his thinking changes. The change in his thought process will influence is behavioral pattern. Self-discovery is a process. Moreover, like every natural process, such as growth or growing up, self-discovery takes time, comes with its own twists & turns and requires a conscious effort at recording ones behavioral patterns (including responses to challenges). I have reached a conclusion. One, which I heard is also shared by Oprah Winfery and that is ‘…People don’t change. They only grow into who they really are.’
Thanks for reading through.
*Gynosko is only one of the three kinds of Knowledge
I you dont know who you are, you answer to what you are called; If you dont know what you were born to do, every suggestion becomes a temptation.
Self knowledge is omnipotent!
Knowledge of oneself is paramount to discovering and releasing one’s potential. While in school, I tried to stay true to myself. I discovered what worked for me and stuck to it. I noticed that a lot of my friends and colleagues were following the crowd and didnt take the time out to truly know themselves. Knowing oneself allows you to know your strengths and weaknesses, where to stand firm and where to give way.
knowing yourself and your potentials is like the rebirth of a new dawn and believe me the feeling is deeply satisfying.