know thyself

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

one of the most ancient and enduring maxims of Western philosophy, inscribed at the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and cited by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and philosophers across traditions as the fundamental starting point of wisdom; to know thyself means to understand one's own nature, capacities, limitations, motivations, and biases — a prerequisite for sound judgment, ethical action, and authentic living; the injunction is interpreted differently across philosophical traditions: as self-knowledge of one's mortality, of the proper scope of human reason, of one's own virtue and vice, or of the fundamental nature of consciousness itself