CURATED COLLECTION

Knowing Yourself

The examined life begins with the hardest question of all — who, exactly, are you?

50 quotes found

“
Life is a struggle in the dark, without knowing who or what we are.

—Knut HamsunNovelist

Industrial Age ERA • Nordic

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Indigenous ways are not about knowing more things, but knowing things differently.

—Manulani Aluli MeyerScholar

Digital Age ERA • Oceania

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To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are.

—Aminata Sow FallNovelist

Post-War ERA • West Africa

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There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life.

—John LennonMusician & Activist

Post-War ERA • Western Europe

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Science means knowing yourself; what else is all this learning for?

—Yunus EmrePoet

Medieval ERA • MENA

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The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.

—Thales of MiletusPhilosopher & Mathematician

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

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It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.

—Desiderius ErasmusScholar

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you're living?

—Bob MarleyMusician

Post-War ERA • Caribbean

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Epistemology begins with location. What is your place? What are your relations?

—Manulani Aluli MeyerScholar

Contemporary ERA • Oceania

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If you don't know who you are, anyone can name you.

—Ousmane SembèneNovelist

Post-War ERA • West Africa

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Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

—AristotlePhilosopher & Scientist

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

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Writing is a way of saying things that are too difficult to say any other way.

—Maryse CondéNovelist

Late Modern ERA • Caribbean

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One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others.

—Simone de BeauvoirExistentialist Philosopher & Feminist

Post-War ERA • Western Europe

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Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow.

—Margaret FullerJournalist, Critic & Feminist

Industrial Age ERA • North America

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Life is a journey, not a home; a road, not a city of habitation.

—Olive SchreinerNovelist, Feminist & Activist

Industrial Age ERA • Southern Africa

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Knowing others is wisdom; knowing yourself is enlightenment.

—LaoziPhilosopher & Author

Ancient World ERA • East Asia

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I am the river, and you are its shores.

—Julia de BurgosPoet & Activist

Early Modern ERA • Caribbean

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To be, or not to be: that is the question.

—William ShakespearePlaywright & Poet

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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The world is full of people who are loved, but feel lonely.

—Alain de BottonAuthor & Philosopher

Contemporary ERA • Western Europe

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Own your journey. No two paths are the same.

—Kemi AdetibaKing

Digital Age ERA • West Africa

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