Know Thyself ??

There are three things extremely hard: steel, diamond and to know one’s self – Benjamin Franklin

The maxim Know Thyself was inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and has been widely quoted … with a variety of meanings … by philosophers.  According to Wikipedia, it can be seen as a warning against false pride, against boasting beyond what you actually are or it can be a warning not to pay attention to the opinion of others.  It can be read as a prescription for true humility, knowing your true place in the universe, by knowing both your strengths and weaknesses.  It can be a warning against hubris, against overbearing pride and comparing oneself to God.   Regardless of how it’s interpreted, I suspect most would agree with Ben Franklin … it’s hard to achieve.  It’s the reason we have aisles of self-help books in Barnes and Noble and the reason we have therapists and philosopher.  It’s the reason religions offer opportunities (sometimes taken) for introspection and why 12-Step programs offer searching and fearless moral inventories (sometimes taken).  Until now, anyway.

Talking

I used to hate slogans and proverbs.  Bumper Stickers, I called them.  Life … and Older Eyes … are complicated.  Nothing of much use can be expressed in so few words.  I also hated quotes from famous people for the same reason with perhaps some envy and ego thrown in.  Who the heck are YOU to tell me what I should think?  Arrogance is a young man’s disease but it often persists into old age (I won’t speak for the ladies).  Twenty-one years of 12-Step meetings have cured me of my disdain for slogans (though on occasion I do get tired of hearing the same one over and over … or someone else’s incorrect interpretation of its meaning).  And that seems to have made me more open to quotes.  After all, I’ve added a Quote of the Day to my home page (although to be truthful, I don’t update it every day).  This is the latest:

We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get a chance to talk.  The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone  – Robert Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

On Paper

I was talking with a friend the other day, one of the several regular readers of Bud’s Blog.    He had just read Perspective, which I’ll admit is one of my favorite posts so far.  He said, You’re sounding very spiritual on your blog these days.   He knows me.    He knows my spirituality is not easily attained  – that it ebbs and flows with each day.