KnowledgeReform.com » Knowledge of Self

Self-Knowledge is Power! Knowledge of Self Towards Successful Living

Jason Cooper — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:29:32 +0000

Read the first part of the ‘Self-Knowledge’ series: ‘Quotes of Wisdom: Inspirational Words towards Self-Knowledge’

What is the relationship between Self-Knowledge and Self-Reflection?

Snow White comes to mind when I take the time to self-reflect, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the most self-knowledge of them all?” The mirror then replied, “Look within yourself to find the answer.” Okay, I know the previous dialogue was never actually said in the Snow White film but that is my reinterpretation of them when thinking of how one can discover self-knowledge.

You must think I’m like a scratched record because of the amount of posts on this blog re-emphasising the need for self-knowledge as a key to enhancing yourselves in life. The reason for my over-zealousness in this regard is because I feel learning about oneself is an important and overlooked subject which, if encouraged, will greatly benefit this planet for generations to come.

Now going back to self-reflection, I feel it doesn’t only mean withdrawing into yourself and being deep in thought, it also means looking at your own reflection of self within the mirror of a clear perspective. The only way we can truly know ourselves is by examining our own minds without judgmental views and with freedom. We must look within ourselves with honesty, and without papering over the cracks of our flaws which will just open up again sometime in the future.

For us to improve ourselves for the better and achieve continuous growth we must identify any debilitating causes, open up the cracks, correct and reconstruct our minds, and by having self-knowledge one can achieve that purpose.

Knowledge vs. Self-Knowledge
Accumulating general knowledge can fill and stagnate the mind, leaving no room for growth towards self-learning, clarity and wisdom. Self-knowledge’s goal is not actually about accumulating, but it’s more to do with emptying the mind so one can think with more flexibility as well as being able to adapt to unforeseeable changes in life.

You must ask yourselves the question, “if there is no room for my mind to grow because of superfluous knowledge, then how can I find the space to learn about myself and surroundings during my whole lifetime?”

What does it mean to have Knowledge of Self?

Self-knowledge ultimately means having the knowledge to react positively to any given situation that may affect you in your life. Because if you know yourself, you will know life and will be able to conquer any enemies trying to siege the fortress of your mind.

How can one attain Self-Knowledge?

empty your mind of the useless knowledge that does not benefit your personal growth
absorb what is useful and learn from other sources such as books, video, audio or another person – be sure to use them only as a pointer and not a substitute for your own self-learning
be open minded and non-judgmental
be both observant and objective of yourself and in relationship with others
be aware of your behavior so to understand why you react in certain ways to different situations
Find time to be on your own so you can self-reflect and question yourself on life and any present obstacle in your mind
be independent of mind when making decisions and try not to be influenced by people or opinion which maybe false or go against your nature
write down your daily observations and thoughts, such as in a diary, personal journal or even a blog

What are the benefits of Self-Knowledge?

Self-knowledge will help you with:

your relationships with yourself and others
understanding and dealing with emotional issues
understanding your motives and behavior as well as others
being conscious of what is and is not in your power
being conscious of what you can and cannot achieve
knowing your strengths and weaknesses
becoming a good judge of character
enables one to develop objectivity, rationality, reason and, ultimately, wisdom
knowing how to overcome any difficulty and negative feelings when they arise
self-motivation and self-help
independence of oneself in making the right decisions and improving one’s emotional mood
continuous self-learning, self-improvement and personal growth throughout your whole life

Can one learn Self-Knowledge from external or secondary sources?

One can learn from enlightening books and people but it is somewhat limited towards your own self-knowledge. My advice is to use secondary avenues of knowledge as a guide (very much like what this blog is trying to achieve) towards learning about yourself and attaining wisdom.

One must not depend on these sources to provide you with the answers regarding yourself – which may only debilitate your own growth in the long run. One must have complete independence, and work towards achieving total understanding of oneself.

Look within the Mirror of Self

As you can see from the amount of benefits gained from having self-knowledge, it is most obvious that you should endeavor to begin learning about yourselves so to live successfully.

To be successful in life is not just about having a big bank account or becoming a Managing Director in your company. True success should be measured by one having attained the knowledge to live more consciously, intelligently and peacefully – which should all contribute towards one living a wise and fulfilling life.

In conclusion: Without self-knowledge there cannot be self-improvement of mind…and remember, the mirror of self never lies.

Quotes of Wisdom: Inspirational Words towards Self-Knowledge

Jason Cooper — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:39:53 +0000

What type of knowledge is important to you?

Do you sometimes feel that you should know yourself more than you do?

Do you feel that you are spending too much time accumulating superfluous knowledge other than knowledge of self?

Learn to accumulate Wisdom not Superficiality

In the educational system we are taught general knowledge for us to learn from and that is suppose to provide us with the foundations towards contributing to society. This carefully chosen knowledge is mostly made up of facts and figures which really has no real benefit towards our own personal growth. Maybe if they included practical wisdom and self-knowledge on the curriculum it would go a long way to addressing the balance of what we learn at school.

When we leave education and venture out into the wild jungle of employment, we are then encouraged to accumulate as much knowledge as possible so that we can be better prepared for the hunt for status and financial reward.

Especially in this technological world of communication competing for a captive audience who are willing to give up their hard earned cash to whoever can provide the best answers, we are continually bombarded with the familiar words “Knowledge is Power!” – and without this knowledge we can never become successful in life. To that I say, “absolute rubbish!”.

The reasons why most knowledge we learn is not conducive to living wisely are:

probably not relevant or useful to you and will not provide you with the wisdom to help you live successfully as a person
you may not be able to actually apply the knowledge to your own life
is mostly superficial because it’s external to you
cannot help you totally understand and solve the problems that may arise within yourself and within relationship with others
is only used for a means to an end and does not actually improve you as a person

Self-knowledge is the key to Living Successfully

So I’d like to rephrase the typical buzzword used to inspire you towards success to, “Self-knowledge is Power!” Or even, “Self-knowledge is Wisdom!” It’s a pity that we’re not encouraged to learn about ourselves rather than just learning a particular branch of knowledge to do our jobs or to display a show of vanity on how much we supposedly know – which is nothing more than that.

What about our actual lives and relationships? Self-knowledge would go a long way towards producing wise, intelligent and contented human beings who have the awareness to be reasonable and peaceful amongst one another, something which I think is the biggest success anyone can have in life.

I will go into this subject with even more depth in my next post, and will hopefully spark a light within you to begin self-reflecting and learning about yourselves, which I guarantee will improve your mind, spirit and life for the better – so no more ignorance, just awareness towards successful living.

Read part two of the ‘Self-Knowledge’ series: ‘Self-Knowledge is Power! Knowledge of Self Towards Successful Living’

Quotes of Wisdom

I will now leave you with a few inspirational quotes that will provide the foundations and encouragement for you to work towards your own self-knowledge.

“Know Thyself”

~ The Oracle of Delphi Spoke to Socrates

“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

~ Socrates

“I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.”

~ Socrates

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

~ Socrates

“To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.”

~ Socrates

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”

~ Socrates

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

~ Aristotle

“Ninety percent of the world’s woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves.”

~ Sydney J. Harris

“Resolve to be thyself; and know that he who finds himself, loses his misery.”

~ Matthew Arnold

“Know thyself means this, that you get acquainted with what you know, and what you can do.”

~ Menander

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.”

~ Virginia Woolfe

“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.”

~ Lao Tzu

“Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.”

~ Spanish Proverb

“To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one’s own nature is the worst and most ignoble defeat.”

~ Plato

“Be a light unto yourself.”

~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

“He who knows not and knows not he knows not, He is a fool – Shun him.
He who knows not and knows he knows not, He is simple – Teach him.
He who knows and knows not he knows, He is asleep – Awaken him.
He who knows and knows that he knows, He is wise – Follow him.”

~ Arabic Proverb