This - command, phrase, plead - may ring a bell in the dusty hollows of your mind brain. Spoken by the great Socrates and recorded by his pal Plato. Two ordinary words when combined posses much weight (if followed correctly, lightness?).
Around the same time, many miles away, Lao Tzu, a nobody, wrote Tao Te Ching. Because of the language barrier, there are more translations (and interpretations) of the Tao than of Socrates' The Apology.
The James Legge translation implores a similar philosophy to obtaining the "truth".
Chapter 33: (a particular favorite of mine)
"He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty . . . "
We are told to feel empowered when we walk away from a fight or leave an unhealthy relationship. We overcame life's obstacles! good job.
It shouldn't end there.
Have we tried to overcome ourselves? Petty objects we think we need, how we feel we should look, tricks we play on our own mind brains.
I leave you how I started, with a quote, and the wish that we all see things "how they really are" -
" . . . we must behold things as they are. And having thus got rid of the foolishness of the body, we shall be pure and hold converse with the pure, and shall in our own selves have complete knowledge of the Incorruptible which is, I take it, no other than the very truth." - Socrates
