Quote of the day 7th November 2021

According to the Greek Writer Pausanius, the aphorism "Know thyself" was the first of three maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

(The others were "Nothing to excess" and "Surety brings ruin.")

Authorship of the phrase has been attributed to a large number of ancient writers from Ahkenaten to Plato and from Socrates to Sun-Tzu.

In an article about trust in politics in today's Sunday Times, with the title

"It is not just MPs who believe they've done no wrong. We all lie to ourselves,"

the journalist Matthew Syed suggests that the words "Know thyself" should be written above the entrance to parliament, on the basis that if politicians did know themselves they would find it harder to decieve, first themselves, and then everyone else.


 

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