What History’s Most Inspired Minds Can Teach Us

The sages, seers, philosophers, and teachers of old knew something most of us don’t: that to know ourselves is to know genuine happiness, peace of mind, purpose, and more. Consider some of their words of wisdom:

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and what you know what you want.” – Lao Tzu

“He who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung

“One’s own self is well hidden from one’s own self; of all the mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be dug up.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars. And they pass by themselves without wondering.” – Saint Augustine

“Resolve to be thyself and know that he who finds himself loses his misery.” – Matthew Arnold

“The first thing you have to know is yourself. A man who knows himself can step outside himself and watch his own reactions like an observer.” – Adam Smith

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

From childhood, each of us was raised to expect the outside world to provide us what we want (not to mention control us, set expectations and limitations, and so much more).

Because we learned no different, and because everyone around us played by the same rules, it didn’t occur to us to question these traditions. And so we bang our heads against those outside walls, demanding better jobs, more meaningful lives, happier relationships, without recognizing that the true repository for these and other things we want exists within us.

Or as the author Aldous Huxley famously noted: “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that’s your own self.”

It’s been said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. This is the way most of humanity exists, forever looking outside for the answers to the questions nagging us from within.

The good news? Modern research clearly demonstrates those inspired minds were correct; that higher levels of self-awareness do indeed lead to people who are happier, enjoy meaningful relationships, make better leaders, and so much more. (Read the full list here).