One of the many things I learned in a Renaissance Literature course I took at Santa Clara University in the late 1970’s was the Latin phrase Nosce te ipsum, which means “know thyself.” This Latin phrase, one of the many proverbs collected by the Dutch philosopher Erasmus in the early 1500’s, can be traced back to the Greek phrase γνῶθι σεαυτόν, which was inscribed at the shrine of Apollo at Delphi. Erasmus, who also happened to be a Catholic priest and theologian, is thought to be one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance. Why, one might ask, has this phrase withstood the test of time and why does it continue to provide us with both a challenge and an opportunity?
Knowledge of self, a concept one develops over time, allows us to make choices and to engage in activities which are consistent with our skill set and which nurture our soul. Despite the fact that I grew up in a household with a piano, I never felt the desire to learn to play it. I liked music, but the thought of sitting on the piano bench and playing songs myself never crossed my mind. Instead, I was drawn to outdoor activities such as soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis, and golf. I had varying degrees of success in each of these, but participation in these sports nurtured my soul.
When I started high school, I had a golden opportunity to make new friends. The enrollment at the school at that time was approximately 1,200. Through my four-year stint, I took advantage of my new social/academic setting to make many friends with classmates, as well as those a few years older and a few years younger. Having a good understanding of who I was enabled me to select friends I would enjoy spending time with and who would make me a better person.
Not surprisingly, knowledge of self is a critical component in the decisions to pursue a specific major in college or a long-term career. It’s simply not enough to look at the potential salary a specific job opportunity has to offer. The far more significant question is whether your interest level and skill set will enable you to nourish your soul through a certain career choice.
Could there be any area of life in which self-knowledge is more imperative than in the selection of a lifestyle or a life partner? No one knows us better than we know ourselves. We have the best understanding of what’s important to us. We know what we like and dislike. We know what we need and what we can do without. We know what brings us true happiness and what contributes to infuriating frustration. The selection of a life partner, or of a particular lifestyle, is best made when considered through the lens of our self-knowledge.
Those of us who attended a Jesuit high school, and were therefore required to take a minimum of two years of Latin, are familiar with this simple poem:
Latin’s a dead language.
It’s plain enough to see.
It killed off all the Romans,
and now it’s killing me.
Yes, we can laugh, but knowledge of a few significant Latin phrases, and a willingness to allow these phrases to shine a light of wisdom upon our lives, is something for which I will always be grateful.
