Adrienne Rich Quotes

There is no self-knowledge except historical self-knowledge.

He who knows himself knows others.

Every one is least known to himself, and it is very difficult for a man to know himself.

You know more about me than I do about myself, that's probably true.

The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.

Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.

Only the shallow know themselves.

Though what we accept be true, it is a prejudice unless we ourselves have considered and understood why and how it is true.

We have to have a very clear understanding of ourselves.

All your life you compare and contrast, explore and search. But knowing yourself well is, well, elusive.

You cannot question an assumption you do not know you have made.

It's been one of the most important tools for me in personal growth for understanding myself, how I am, and what effect I do have on other people.

Write about what you know, and what do you know better than your own secrets?

The more you understand yourself, the more you will understand the world.

We are usually undone by our lack of understanding of ourselves.

People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and clothed in words.

Of all knowledge the wise and good seek most to know themselves.

If I do not understand myself, the whole complexity of myself, I have no basis for thinking.

I believe in the importance of seeking self-knowledge. The more I know myself, the more I feel empowered.

Again, if you only know what you know, you don't know if something's good or bad. You don't have perspective.

I'm like a book you have to read. A book can't read itself to you. It doesn't even know what it's about. I don't know what I'm about.

Knowledge subverts love: in proportion as we penetrate our secrets, we come to loathe our kind, precisely because they resemble us.

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

I've spent my life cultivating knowledge of myself. But the more I know myself, the more utterly mysterious I become.

To know nothing about yourself is to live. To know yourself badly is to think.