AlanM wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 2:47 am
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Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth. ...Yes, I do realise there is a difference between knowing oneself and defining oneself. It's a bit like time - easy to understand, but close to impossible to describe...
I have always thought that one of the problems is that words are not really adequate when it comes to trying to explain things that exist beyond the realm of words, and which require other means to understand them. A definition (and even a description) is, by definition, made up of words, and words cannot reveal the essence of a thing (although they may help to get one closer to knowing and understanding it). I believe that one can only learn so much from reading books and from listening to what other people say -- the knowledge that one acquires from those things will be limited, and one must seek beyond words (or perhaps between/behind/underneath them?) to find deeper meaning and understanding, of oneself and of so many other things.
To be honest (I am always honest!), glib phrases (such as the ones you quoted!), which seem to have become a rampant phenomenon, tend to irritate me rather profoundly! In fact, even though I am a peaceful and gentle person, when somebody throws a platitude at me, I actually feel as if I am on the verge of becoming violent. Have you ever seen the movie Mystery Men? It is quite amusing, and it has a character named Sphinx (played by Wes Studi) who is always spouting platitudes and truisms, which of course makes one realise how absurd they are. (Well, obviously not everybody realises that, thus the proliferation of these supposedly profound truths in 15 words or less.)
Incidentally, some (and perhaps many) of those "famous quotes" that one finds all over the internet (and just about everywhere else) are of quite dubious provenance, and may never actually have been written or uttered by those to whom they are attributed. Never believe everything you read!
Cheers!
