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DISCOURSE 6. Concerning "Know thyself." (15E_400> Luke 6. Why do you see the speck that is in the eye of your brother
but do not notice the beam in your own eye? Romans 14. Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or
falls; and he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. Solomon 11. Walk in the ways of your heart blameless, and know thyself; for in
all these things God will bring you into judgment. Proverbs 13. Those who know themselves are wise. Sirach 13. Keep and pay close attention, for with your fall you
walk. Of Basil. An accurate understanding of yourself provides you sufficient guidance
toward the concept of God. Remembering your nature, you will never be puffed up; but you will remember yourself if
you pay attention to yourself. You have suffered, O man, what you accuse others of; and you look carefully at another's evil,
but your own shame you place nowhere. For in truth it seems to be the most difficult of all things, to know oneself. For not
only does the eye, seeing external things, not employ sight upon itself; but also our own mind, keenly discerning another's (15E_402> sin, is slow toward the recognition of its own failings.
Theologian. Examine yourself more than the affairs of your neighbors. For in the one case you yourself will profit, in the other your neighbors. Know thyself, O best one, from whence and who you were made. Easily thus might you attain the archetypal beauty. Of Didymus. For one to know that he is ignorant, is wisdom; just as also to know that
he has done wrong, is justice. Chrysostom. This one especially knows himself, who considers himself to be nothing. 969 Clement. If you wish to know God, first know yourself. Of Antiphanes. If you are mortal, O best one, think mortal thoughts also. Demosthenes. I think the future is unknown to all men; and small moments, of great
matters become the causes. Therefore one must be moderate in success, and be seen to foresee the future.
Of Heraclitus. Heraclitus, being young, became wiser than all, because he knew himself to be nothing.
Socrates. Socrates thought he knew nothing, except this very thing, that he knows nothing; but that the rest did not even know this.
Those who are violently feverish, their appetite and their strength; but those dwelling in royal courts are naturally corrupted in their mind and morals, unless they frequently say to themselves the "Know thyself."
(15E_404> Philemon. Being a man, know this, and you will remain so always. Of Sotades. Even if you are a king by nature, listen as a mortal.
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ΛΟΓΟΣ Στ´. Περί τοῦ "Γνῶθι σαυτόν." (15Ε_400> Λουκ. στ´. Τί βλέπεις τό κάρφος τό ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ
σου, τήν δέ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀφθαλμῷ δοκόν οὐ κατανοεῖς; Ῥωμ. ιδ´. Σύ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἤ
πίπτει· σταθήσεται δέ· δυνατός γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός στῆσαι αὐτόν. Σολομ. ια´. Περιπάτει ἐν ὁδοῖς καρδίας σου ἄμωμος, καί γνῶθι σαυτόν· ὅτι ἐν
πᾶσι τούτοις ἄξει σε ὁ Θεός εἰς κρίσιν. Παροιμ. ιγ΄. Οἱ ἑαυτῶν ἐπιγνώμονες, σοφοί. Σιρ. ιγ´. Συντήρησον καί πρόσεχε σφοδρῶς, ὅτι μετά τῆς πτώσεώς σου
περιπατεῖς. Βασιλείου. Ἠ ἀκριβής σαυτοῦ κατανόησις αὐτάρκη σοι παρέχει χειραγωγίαν
πρός τήν ἔννοιαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μεμνημένος τῆς φύσεως, οὐκ ἐπαρθήσῃ ποτέ· μεμνήσῃ δέ ἑαυτοῦ ἐάν
προσέχῃς σαυτόν. Ἔπαθες, ἄνθρωπε, ὅ ἐγκαλεῖς· καί τό μέν ἀλλότριον κακόν ἐπιμελῶς βλέπεις,
τό δέ σαυτοῦ αἰσχρόν οὐδαμοῦ τιθεῖς. Τῷ ὄντι γάρ ἔοικε πάντων εἶναι χαλεπώτατον, ἑαυτόν ἐπιγνῶναι. Οὐ γάρ
μόνος ὀφθαλμός τά ἔξω βλέπων ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτόν οὐ κέχρηται τῷ ὁρᾷν· ἀλλά καί αὐτός ἡμῶν ὁ νοῦς, ὀξέως τό ἀλλότριον (15Ε_402> ἁμάρτημα καταβλέπων, βραδύς ἐστι πρός τήν τῶν οἰκείων ἐλαττωμάτων ἐπίγνωσιν.
Θεολογ. Ἐρεύνα σαυτόν πλεῖον, ἤ τά τῶν πέλας. Τῷ μέν γάρ αὐτός κερδανεῖς, τῷ δ᾿ οἱ πέλας. Γνῶθι σεαυτόν, ἄριστε, πόθεν καί ὅστις ἐτύχθης. Ῥεῖά κεν ὦδε τύχῃς κάλλεος ἀρχετύπου. ∆ιδύμου. Τό εἰδέναι τινά ὅτι ἀγνοεῖ, σοφίας ἐστίν· ὡς καί τό εἰδέναι ὅτι
ἠδίκησε, δικαιοσύνης. Χρυσοστ. Οὗτος μάλιστα ἐστιν ὁ ἑαυτόν εἰδώς, ὁ μηδέν ἑαυτόν εἶναι νομίζων. 969 Κλήμεντ. Εἰ βούλει γνῶναι Θεόν, προλαβών γνῶθι σαυτόν. Ἀντιφάνους. Εἰ θνητός εἶ, βέλτιστε, θνητά καί φρόνει. ∆ημοσθ. Οἶμαι τό μέλλον ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἄδηλον· καί μικροί καιροί, μεγάλων
πραγμάτων αἴτιοι γίνονται. ∆ιό δεῖ μετριάζειν ἐν ταῖς εὐπραξίαις, καί προορωμένους τό μέλλον φαίνεσθαι.
Ἡρακλείτου. Ἡράκλειτος νέος ὤν, πάντων γέγονεν σοφώτερος, ὅτι ᾔδει ἑαυτόν μηδέν ὄντα.
Σωκράτ. Σωκράτης ᾤετο μηδέν εἰδέναι, πλήν αὐτό τοῦτο, ὅτι μηδέν οἶδεν· τούς δέ λοιπούς, μηδέ τοῦτο εἰδέναι.
Οἱ μέν σφοδρῶς πυρέττοντες, τήν ὄρεξιν καί τήν ῥώμην· οἱ δ᾿ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις παροικοῦντες, τόν νοῦν καί τά ἤθη πεφύκασι διαφείρεσθαι, εἰ μή τό, Γνῶθι σαυτόν, συχνῶς ἑαυτοῖς ἐπιλέγουσιν.
(15Ε_404> Φιλήμον. Ἄνθρωπος ὤν, τοῦτ᾿ ἴσθι, καί μενεῖς ἀεί. Σωτάτου. Εἰ καί βασιλεύς πέφυκας, ὡς θνητός ἄκουσον.