Nikki Giovanni Quotes

And he who does not know himself does not know others, so it may be said with equal truth, that he who does not know others knows himself but very imperfectly.

In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing.

There's something very touching to me about someone almost communicating to themselves in some way - trying to come to some deeper understanding of yourself and having compassion for yourself.

In every person, you have a world of personalities and souls, a world of perspectives that you can share. You can get into anyone's shoes. You've got to be willing to stare at the ugliest part of yourself and deal with it.

If you can get to know a person, and you can really understand them, it can usually help you better understand yourself and why you believe what you believe.

But what do we know of the heart nearest to our own? What do we know of our own heart?

Self-awareness is not self-centeredness, and spirituality is not narcissism. 'Know thyself' is not a narcissistic pursuit.

Self knowledge begins with the neighbor, the mirror, and just the same with true self-love; that goes from the mirror to the matter.

The better you understand yourself the less cause you will find to love yourself.

For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.

We forge gradually our greatest instrument for understanding the world - introspection. We discover that humanity may resemble us very considerably - that the best way of knowing the inwardness of our neighbors is to know ourselves.

They say: 'If a man knew himself, he would know all mankind.' I say: 'If a man loved mankind, he would know something of himself.

There’s nothing to it. All you have to do is take a close look at yourself and you will understand everyone else. We’re in no way different ourselves... You show me someone who can’t understand people and I’ll show you someone who has built up a false image of himself.

It's in understanding yourself deeply that you can lend yourself to another person's circumstances and another person's experience.

He who knows others is clever; He who knows himself has discernment.

To the extent to which you know yourself, and we are all more alike than different, you can know others. When you love yourself, you will love others. And to the depth and extent to which you can love yourself, only to that depth and extent will you be able to love others.

Most of your suffering comes from the lack of understanding of yourself and others.

We know others to the extent that we know ourselves.

...you realize that you don't understand yourself any better than you understand anyone else.

I really do feel like I know myself, and I'm so happy to be by myself and I'm so happy to be with other people; I just know myself really, really well, and I think that is an amazing thing. I think a lot of people don't know themselves that well.

Ninety per cent 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 - so how can we know anyone else?

No one has ever learned fully to know themselves.

A lot of what I've been learning in the last two years is due to therapy - about my sexuality, why things go wrong, why relationships haven't worked. It isn't anything to do with anybody else; it's to do with me.

I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly.

You want to feel, 'I know that character.'