“The unexamined life is not worth living”.
Socrates
Know Yourself
Socrates was of the opinion that the unexamined life was not worth living and according to what we know about him, his entire life found its value in the motto of the Delphic (Greek) inscription: “Know Thyself”.
This rings very true, because how can you “know yourself” if you fail to examine your own existence? Why do so many tend to not examine their lives in its entirety? It is so unfortunate that there are so many people in our world who simply exist without ever knowing the "true" essence of their existence! I have to add, that is if ever we can know our "TRUE" essence.
Socrates argued that if we fail to examine our lives, we may then just as well stop living that life. This does not mean that you should terminate your life, you should simply redirect it. This should be done through the process of introspection (unravelling and examining our inner lives) and retrospection (looking back from where we came, where we erred in the past and at our worthwhile accomplishments). What type of beings would we be without this dual process? I think that we may be likened to that of a little rowboat floating aimlessly on the sea of existence, being swept from one side to the other by the waves of life.
In practising an examined life, you will most likely know where you come from, and where you are going to in life.
Let us take Oscar Wilde’s view to heart when he says that to live is the rarest thing in the world because most people merely exist. It is extremely important to examine your life; you just have one to live. Do not merely exist, make sure that you live that one single life well.
Socrates was of the opinion,
with regard to life's worthiness,
that without introspection and retrospection,
existence will be utterly worthless…
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