“Know Thyself” “It's a life's work to see yourself for what you really are and even then you might be wrong. And that is something I don't want to be wrong about.” -Cormac Mccarthy, No Country For Old Men

Theme Explanation The concept of knowing thyself is one that has been studied since the dawn of time. Understanding who you are is difficult, but philosophers have emphasized it for centuries. It necessitates a level of self awareness that many are either not capable of, or do not want to be capable of. It means recognizing both the good and the bad, the positive traits and the flaws.

Personal Statement “Know Thyself.” A simple mantra, but an effective one. Many philosophers throughout history have attempted to aid people in accomplishing this task, and for good reason-self awareness is a crucial tool for all aspects of life. While self awareness can be painful, and acknowledging your flaws difficult, it pays off. A major area where it pays off to know yourself is in knowing your physical and mental limits. Injuries, both physical and emotional, can result from not knowing your limits. Throughout my life, I have constantly attempted to know my limits. At times, though, I have struggled with this. During late 2020, I injured myself playing soccer, giving myself a hyperextended elbow. Ironically, this was both a literal and metaphorical problem of going past my limits. I pushed myself too hard after a long break (going for a save as goalkeeper that I should not have), going beyond my limit in that regard, and the way that the injury happened was my arm literally being pushed beyond its limits. Even after this, I did not try as hard as I should have to stop pushing myself too far. I swapped sports a few times between then and now, and the elbow issues went with me until late 2022. Regardless of sport, I would aggravate it every few weeks, each time worse than the last. By summer 2022, I had developed a better understanding of who I was in all aspects of my life. I was determined to use this knowledge to better myself, and I started by looking to fix the nagging elbow injuries. I took a break from any serious, organized sports, and began working on gradually strengthening that elbow without damaging it further. It worked, at least to an extent-the injuries were rare, only occurring every few months. I also sought to better myself in other ways, from changing how I approached school to changing my schedule. Knowing myself better allowed me to make these changes effectively and with enough knowledge to comfortably understand how they would affect me.

Photo and Caption “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” -Socrates

Quote from Emerson or Thoreau “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,— that is genius.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance

Poem There are times where we feel everything is dull we feel like everything is grey this is because you do not know yourself you will find your way to live life each and every day Know thyself know your role find your gift it can take days, months and years to find yourself but you must keep searching only time will tell but the real you is inside you that person is the positive side of you You live for you you write your own rules you write your own praises we all go through this but know thyself let love guide you home Joshua Busuttil

Pop Culture In “False Prophets,” J. Cole explores the importance of knowing thyself, and its connection to 3 rappers-Ye, J. Cole himself, and an unknown 3rd rapper. The other rappers mentioned in his song are used as examples of what happens when you don’t know yourself. When discussing Ye, he focuses on his ego and mental health issues. He blames Ye for not being self aware enough to realize he has issues he needs help with, but also blames the audience and his inner circle for not contesting him and trying to get him help. “Life is a balance/you lose your grip/you can slip into an abyss,” “When he tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately/It’s been hard for him to look into a mirror lately.” “/What’s more important is he’s crying out for help. While the world’s egging him on, I’m begging him to stop it.” Cole discusses an unnamed 2nd rapper, a friend of his. His friend is upset with his life because of the critics, and his lack of recognition. Cole wants him to have the self awareness to realize that the fanbase he has now is enough for him to just focus on the music. “I got a homie, he’s a rapper/And he wanna win bad. He want the fame, the acclaim/the respect that’s been had, by all the legends/so every time I see him he stressin’” “And I know, he so bitter he can’t see his own blessings.” But in a sense I can relate/the need to be great, Turns into an obsession/” About himself, he questions why he does what he does: “Writin’ words/Hopin’ people observe/The dedication/That stirs in you constantly/But intentions get blurred/Do I do it for the love of the music or is there more to me?” By the end of the song, he has learned more about himself and has determined to live by his own rules, using his knowledge of himself instead of the outside world. “Therefore, from here on out, my hair grow out/I care nothin’ ‘bout, opinions.” The other rappers don’t get these happy endings, but J. Cole uses the song to inspire people to live by the transcendentalist ideal of knowing themselves.

Simon Young Ms. Godfrey 1/15/2023 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882. Self-Reliance. White Plains, N.Y. :Peter Pauper Press, 1967. McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men. New York, Knopf, 2005. Busuttil, Joshua. "Know Thyself." PoemHunter, www.poemhunter.com/poem/ know-thyself-12/.