Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Self-knowledge is the desire of a person to know himself, his mental and physical characteristics, his abilities and, in general, all the subtleties of his personality. Thanks to self-knowledge, a person can learn a lot of new and interesting things about himself that he did not know and did not understand before, and even a lot of things that no one has ever known about himself. Also, thanks to self-knowledge, a person is able to largely comprehend himself and find his place in life. Sometimes we don’t even know who we can be in life, where, so to speak, our place in this world and what we should do in order to fully realize ourselves. Self-knowledge will help answer these and many other questions. It will help every person to gain faith in himself and his abilities, and will give him strength to realize all his desires. In this article I will tell you about how self-knowledge can help you improve yourself and your life and how a person can know himself.

Why Know Yourself

And yet, despite all the apparent usefulness of self-knowledge, the question of why to know oneself, I am sure, arises in the minds of many people, even those who are already actively engaged in self-knowledge. Still, self-knowledge, self-digging, self-study, self-analysis is not an easy job. You need to spend a lot of time on digging into yourself, in order to study the features of your personality, and many of them lack it anyway. Yes, and you need to think a lot about yourself, your actions, your thoughts, your behavior, which in itself is not easy. Thinking in general is very difficult, and even more so about yourself. Indeed, often when thinking about yourself, you need to have the courage to face the truth in order to see yourself as you are, and not as you want to see yourself. This is the courage many people lack. So self-knowledge is not an easy job. Therefore, this question arises - why do you need to do this? Not for the same, just to seem smarter and higher than others.

The reasons, friends, are actually many, and they all contribute to a person's desire to know himself. But I think that the main reason is that at one fine moment a person begins to dislike his inability to manage himself and his life as he would like. That is, he can do it badly, or at least not very well. And at the moment when he begins to more or less clearly understand that he manages his life poorly and does not control himself well enough, as a result of which much in his life is not going well - he has a desire to understand himself in order to finally bring himself to and order in your life. In other words, dissatisfaction with yourself and your life is an excellent reason for self-knowledge. Still, when everything is good in your life and you are satisfied with everything, especially with yourself, then there is no point in studying yourself. And there is no meaning, there is no desire. A person enjoys life without thinking at all about how he can change it, because it suits him completely. But in order to change your life, a person must first change himself. However, you can also do the opposite - first change your life, and then change yourself. But it's still better to start with yourself - it's much better.

There are also people who are puzzled by the question of the meaning of life and, in search of an answer to it, go, as they say, deep into themselves, because where else, if not inside themselves, to look for answers to such important and eternal questions. That is, sometimes not dissatisfaction, but curiosity and a desire to develop becomes an impetus for a person to self-knowledge. True, this is rare, much less common than the need for self-knowledge as a result of a person’s dissatisfaction with his life, but it does occur. I believe that one does not interfere with the other, since any order in a person's life implies a clear understanding of what he lives for and what he wants to live better for. After all, the more a person knows about himself and about people in general, the better he understands both his own capabilities and the capabilities of a person in general, and this, in turn, opens up a wider space of possibilities for him. I think you will agree with me that we humans still do not know much about ourselves. Moreover, we do not know what exactly we do not know about ourselves, that is, we do not understand what exactly we want to find inside ourselves. And it's mesmerizing. This makes us study ourselves as actively as, say, we study space, because there are as many secrets hidden inside us as in space. And who knows what we can learn about ourselves and how we can develop ourselves on the basis of this knowledge in order to gain new abilities and opportunities with the help of which we will be able to qualitatively change our lives.

So what do we know about ourselves and what do we need to know about ourselves? Still, self-knowledge must start from something and have some purpose. We know a lot about ourselves and we don’t know even more, and accordingly, self-knowledge has the goal not to find something specific within ourselves, but in general to find something and understand it. Looking at other people, we can see what a person can be like in general, but another question is interesting - is there something similar in us that we observe in other people? That is, if you look at a person who has such qualities that you would like to have, then can you develop in yourself a similar, and not completely identical, but similar personality that would completely satisfy you? I believe that yes - everything that you observe in other people, both good and bad, is inside each of us. Another thing is how developed this or that person lives in us, these or those qualities, or better to say what inclinations we have for the formation of this or that personality in ourselves. This is what needs to be dealt with. Some of us in a more developed state have some advantages and disadvantages, others have others, and depending on our desire, we can develop in ourselves exactly those of them that we need. Of course, we can find in ourselves something that no one has yet found in ourselves, and which is a kind of great reward for the seeker, but still, finding something in ourselves that attracts you in other people is a great temptation. Therefore, keep in mind, dear friends, that within yourself you can find any personality you know, so that you can then grow it in yourself. I repeat once again - you do not have to be like someone else, a person should not strive for this, he needs to develop his own Self. But other people, worthy people, may well become a guide for him, so that in terms of developing his personal qualities he does not need to reinvent the wheel.

It is very useful to engage in self-knowledge to solve various problems. And there are always enough of them in our life. But many people are not only unprepared for them, but they do not even see how they can, in principle, solve certain problems. Very often, when my clients and I solve some problems that they turned to me with, I draw their attention to the personal qualities that they possess and, accordingly, the opportunities that they have thanks to these qualities, with the help of which these people can solve their problems. But they themselves, for various reasons, do not notice these qualities in themselves and therefore do not see the opportunities that they have. But what does it mean not to know about one or another of one's personal qualities and not to see the opportunities available due to them - this means not to use these opportunities to solve one's problems and tasks at the same time. It's like hunting with a loaded gun but not knowing how to shoot it. You see, many people can do much more than they think. And the problems that most people face in everyday life are not so serious for them to worry about them, let alone give up their ambitions because of them. But people perceive certain situations that are harmless to them precisely as problems, because they simply do not know how to solve them themselves or how to avoid them.

I believe that people's lack of knowledge and understanding of themselves, at least within the most acceptable limits for them, is one of the main problems for most people. And this problem needs to be addressed among the first. I don't know myself very well either, but I'm working on it - I'm trying to know myself as best as I can. And I must tell you, friends, that this is very interesting and monstrously useful. This is useful not only in the sense that we get the opportunity to become better by developing certain qualities in ourselves, first discovering them in ourselves and then finding ways to develop them, but also in terms of our self-esteem. After all, you know, sometimes in our life there are people who tell us that we cannot do something there and that something is not given to us there. Have you experienced this? I faced. Some people told me that this or that was not given to me, and at first I believed them. But you know, my pride did not allow me to come to terms with the idea that I couldn’t do something there, that something wasn’t given to me. And I started working in this direction, I worked mainly on what was important to me. And it turned out that everything was given to me, that I could do everything, I only needed to develop the necessary qualities in myself, and not rely on a natural gift or the absence of it. So self-knowledge allows us to refute other people's negative opinions of us. And this refutation is important, first of all, for ourselves, it helps us to believe in ourselves.

There is one more sense in engaging in self-knowledge - in this way you can know not only yourself, but also other people. And this, in turn, will help you better understand them and build relationships with them in a way that is convenient for you. After all, everything that is in ourselves is also in other people, and what is in other people is also in us. Sometimes, in order to understand another person, for example, your child in adolescence, all that is required of a person, his parent, is to remember himself at his age. After all, the same teenager lives in you, who has his own problems and experiences, his desires and dreams, his own opinion on certain issues - therefore, you can raise all this in yourself in order to find it with your child, with your son or daughter, mutual language. Here in a teenager there is still no mature personality, there is no adult in him, whom you may want to see in him, but you have his personality. So who should make concessions to whom, who should try to understand whom for this? In this way, friends, we can all become more friendly and responsive, and we will have more opportunities to negotiate with each other. By knowing ourselves, we can know others. And having known others, we can find an approach to them, we can find a common language with them.

How to know yourself

Now let's talk about how to know yourself. The first thing that comes to mind is observation, or if you like, self-observation. In order to know yourself, you need to observe yourself. But this is not as easy to do as it seems at first glance. The fact is that we tend to distort information about ourselves. That is, we humans often deceive ourselves when we think about ourselves, our qualities, our strengths and weaknesses, our desires and capabilities. In most cases, we want to appear in our own eyes better than we really are. Therefore, sometimes you need to observe yourself not with your own, but with someone else's eyes, and think about yourself not with your own, but with someone else's mind. Do you understand what I mean? - I'm talking about someone else's opinion about us, about you. It helps a lot in self-observation for the purpose of self-knowledge. Of course, someone else's opinion is also not always adequate, but it often sobers up and balances our own opinion about ourselves. True, someone thinks of himself well and even too well, and someone thinks badly, so someone else's opinion should belong to literate people, and not just anyone. Otherwise, some people will simply belittle you even more, while others will unreasonably elevate you, and this will not help you to know yourself, but it will greatly distort your self-esteem. So other people's eyes and someone else's mind - you still need to choose the right one. Be interested in the opinion of those people whom you consider smart.

Also pay attention to your value system, your lifestyle, your desires and dreams - they will help you understand what kind of person you are at the moment. I think you can easily learn about what people are interested in from smart books and articles, and then see how close you are to certain people. Roughly speaking, if a person leads an extremely irresponsible lifestyle, thereby proving that he is poorly versed in it, if his value system is based on the satisfaction of primitive basic needs and is limited to this, if he dreams of any insignificant nonsense that he wants to acquire, and not about, say, self-expression, self-realization, achieving some high goals in life related to lofty needs, then he definitely has room to grow. And he definitely shouldn’t think that he knows everything about life and that he doesn’t need anything else from her, and what is especially important, that he doesn’t need anything from himself. This is, in fact, a rather serious problem for a person - not to know that he does not know something. In some cases, only with outside help can a person go beyond their ideas about life in order to learn more about it and about themselves.

The next point, which is a continuation of the previous one, is the science of man, with their help you can understand what exactly you have already found or can find in yourself. Well, I can tell you with all responsibility that psychology can help a person to know himself very well. She will explain to him why he has certain qualities, why certain features are inherent in him, why he has certain desires. For example, a person during self-knowledge discovered that he was afraid of something, but did not know what exactly and why. Suppose he notices behind him that he is afraid only in certain certain situations, but he cannot understand what these situations mean, why exactly they frighten him, worry him. But having begun to study the same psychology, he can learn about various kinds of phobias and why they arise, and then already draw a conclusion from where this or that fear appeared in him. Not only that, he learns that fear is inherent in many other people, which will help him, for example, stop thinking of himself as a coward, if he certainly thinks so. Or a person wants to know what he is capable of - whether he can, for example, succeed in some business, or whether it is too tough for him. From the relevant literature, he can learn about what qualities a person needs to successfully solve certain problems, to achieve certain goals, and how these capabilities can be developed in oneself. In other words, self-knowledge without knowledge is almost impossible. For not everything that we observe, both in ourselves and in other people, we are able to explain without special knowledge.

The next point in self-knowledge, also very important from my point of view, has to do with such two human qualities as imagination and will. I have written more than once about the fact that a person can, as they say, invent himself in order to become what he wants to be. The main thing is to burn with the desire to make yourself the person you need, then there will be ways to do it. But first, you need to draw up a plan for your development, thinking carefully about who exactly you want to be, what personal qualities of yours will help you become such a person and where you should start your development. That is, you understand, self-knowledge in this case turns into self-creation, a person creates himself - he does not look for certain qualities in himself, he first invents them, and then develops them. Say it's impossible? And here it is possible. And many people did just that in their lives when they wanted to become someone. Above, I gave you an example with myself when I said that some people convinced me that I couldn’t do something and that something was not given to me, and then it turned out that I could do everything and everything was given to me. How can we even know what is given to us and what is not, if we tried to achieve something? All this is utter nonsense - we ourselves decide what is given to us and what is not.

Many people came to know themselves not by searching for something or someone in themselves, but by means of self-development, self-improvement, by striving for their goals. These are completely different things. In one case, we rely on the concept that someone else created us for certain purposes, and we are looking for something in ourselves that will point us to these goals, and in the other case, we believe that whatever we are from birth, we ourselves decide who we will become and what goals we will try to achieve. That is, in the latter case, the responsibility for what we are and what we can, falls entirely on us. And I believe that this is the best way to self-knowledge. Let our deeds show us and others what we are now and what we can become, not our exploration of ourselves. For one way or another, a person becomes what he becomes, under the influence of external factors and thanks to his own work on himself. And what nature gives us from birth is a negligible part of our personality. Well, this, of course, is my personal opinion, partly confirmed by science, partly refuted by science.

In any case, friends, you need to engage in self-knowledge by any means available to you. This, as I said, is both interesting and useful. This lesson makes sense. In itself, self-knowledge is one of the meanings of life. Or you can even say that self-knowledge complements a person's life, filling it with great meaning. Socrates said: know yourself and you will know the whole world. I don’t know how true this is, but I am absolutely convinced that by knowing ourselves, we learn a lot, a lot. I have not described all the ways of self-knowledge in this article, so in the future we will definitely return to this topic in order to reveal it even better. But the main thing I want to achieve is to awaken your interest in self-knowledge, and thus encourage you to this worthy pursuit.

When we begin to examine ourselves in this sense, or in some other detail of our isolated life, we are inclined to truly diabolical reasoning. It essentially consists in the following: everything that is attractive in me, that I like in me, is my “I”. Everything that in me seems ugly, repulsive to me, or what others find in me repulsive and ugly, which creates tension with those around me, I perceive as stains, as something introduced or imposed on me from outside. For example, people often say: “I strive for something different from the bottom of my heart, but life circumstances made me this way.” No, life circumstances have only revealed that you are. In the correspondence of Macarius, one of the Optina elders, there are two or three letters to a St. Petersburg merchant who writes: “The servant left me and they offer me a village girl in return. What do you advise me to take it or not to take it?” The elder replies: “Of course, take it.” After some time, the merchant writes again: “Father, let me drive her away, this is a real demon; ever since she's been here, I've been furious all the time and have lost all self-control. And the elder replies: “And don’t even think of persecuting it, God sent you an angel from heaven so that you can see how much malice is in you, which the former servant could never bring to the surface.”

And now it seems to me that if we look at ourselves with all seriousness, we will no longer be able to say: everything that is virtuous, beautiful, harmonious is me; everything else is spots of chance that have nothing to do with me, they just stuck to my skin… In reality, they are not stuck to the skin, but are rooted in the very depths of our being. Only we do not like it, and we blame whomever we can or the circumstances of our lives. How many times have I heard in confession: “Here are all my sins,” then the penitent stops for a minute to take a breath (sins are usually stated rather quickly) and makes a long speech, proving that if the circumstances of the life given to him by God were different, he did not have any no sins. And sometimes, if they say to me: “I am to blame, but what do you want? I have a mother-in-law, I have a son-in-law, I have this, I have this, I have rheumatism and arthritis, we survived the Russian revolution, etc. ”- it happened more than once that when a person, having finished his story, was already waiting for a permissive prayer , I told him: “I'm sorry, but confession is a means of reconciliation with God, and reconciliation is a mutual matter. So, before I give you permission in the name of God, can you say that you forgive Him all the harm, all the evil that He did to you, all the circumstances in which He forced you not to be a saint or a saint? Usually people don't like it, but it's true and it's so important, so essential: we have to accept ourselves completely as we are. We do not do this if we think that we are what is beautiful, and God is to blame for the rest (most often God, not the devil, because in essence God would have to prevent the devil from doing the evil that he does - already at least for me!)

What do we do? Is it possible to find some inspiration, support in doing that follows from what we have seen?

Yes, of course, you can, and this “yes, of course” for me is justified by two points. First, something extremely inspiring was said by John of Kronstadt in his diary, where he recounts his inner experience. He says that God never allows us to see evil in ourselves if He is not sure that our faith, our hope is strong enough to resist such a vision. As long as He sees that we lack faith, lack hope, He leaves us in relative ignorance; in our inner darkness we discern only the dangers which He leaves us to grope for. When He sees that our faith has become strong and alive, our hope is strong enough to withstand the abomination of what we see and not be shaken, then He allows us to see what He sees Himself - but only to the extent of our hope and our faith. So here is a double revelation from which we can derive some benefit; the first is the bare fact: I considered myself so patient, and this country girl reveals in me all my impatience, rudeness and unbridledness. But on the other hand, if God allowed me to see, then He knows that I am now able to cope with the problem, knows that I am able to overcome temptation and change internally.

The second point is justified for me by the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, who says that it is essential that we see ourselves as a whole, that is, not only what is beautiful in us, corresponding to our calling to eternal life, but also everything else. For what is already consonant with Christ, God, what already belongs to the Kingdom, in a sense is of no interest to us: it is important to turn everything else - the desert or the wilds - into the Garden of Eden. And here, moving away from the image given by St. Seraphim, I would like to emphasize that we must consider ourselves as the material that God has put into our hands and from which we can create a work of art, something that will become an integral part of the Kingdom of Harmony , beauty, truth and life. In this sense, we must have the same composure, the same clarity of vision that an artist has.

The work of art that the artist wants to create is determined by two factors: on the one hand, his idea, what he wants to create; on the other hand, the material that he has in his hands. You know that it is impossible to make the same works from different materials: if you want to make a cross from ivory, you will not take a piece of granite; if you want to build a Celtic cross, you will not carve it out of Greek marble, etc. - simply because what you want to express can only be expressed within the limits of the given material. So, unless you are hopelessly and hopelessly stubborn (hopefully both for God and for yourself and for others), and in your hands there is only one material of some kind, then the question will not be “how to make marble from ivory or granite from a crooked knot”; you just look at this material at hand and say: “What kind of work of art can be born from what I hold in my hands?” (Which does not prevent you from later implementing a different plan and from the material that you want to have.)

We should act in the same way in our inner life. We must learn to look with an intelligent eye, a penetrating eye, with as much realism as possible, with the liveliest interest, at the material that we have in our hands, because we can only build from this material. If you are Peter, then you are not Antony, and no matter what you do, you will not become Antony. There is a proverb: “At the Last Judgment, no one will ask you if you were Saint Peter, they will ask you if you were Petya.” No one requires you to be what you are not, but you can be asked, you can be required to be yourself. And this is very important: if you don't accept the whole material, you won't create anything. Do not imagine that by affirming your mind, your perception, that is, half of your individuality, you will be able to create a whole harmonious person. At some point, you will find that you could not do it, but then you will already have a freak in front of you, some kind of unfinished statue and a huge amount of unused material - and that's it!

And that takes courage and faith. First of all, faith in the sense, as I have already said, that God only allows us to see what we can bear; and courage: after all, it does not give us pleasure to see all our ugliness. Perhaps you remember the words of St. Vincent de Paul in front of a mirror, which his father accidentally heard when he entered the room: “God, I am too ugly for people, but maybe You will accept me like that?”. Maybe I am too ugly for people, but I am desirable to God, because otherwise He would not have called me into existence, would not have performed this creative, risky act, calling me into existence - and not for a short time, but for eternity. .

On the other hand, if we want to have a relationship with the people around us, we must be real, not fake people. We can have a creative thoughtful relationship with each other only insofar as I am real and my interlocutor, the one who stands in front of me, is also real. This reality must embrace the whole person, he must not be satisfied with a partial reality, a reality up to a certain limit.

This is what I want to say: when we, children, are called by the director of the school for a head-washing, because we have done something, then we see in him only the title of director. There is no person here, but there is a director, as there would be a policeman, an official, a prosecutor, a doctor. It doesn't even occur to us that there is something else in it.

Yevtushenko has a very powerful poem, where he describes the teacher as the student sees him. The student watches him and thinks: what is the matter with him today? He's kind of weird! He teaches math and just made two addition mistakes. And now he broke the chalk, stopped and erased everything, although he ordered us to copy from the board, and so on. At the end of the poem we see the teacher, who has forgotten to put on his coat and hat, and is walking across the yard; and the last phrase: "the professor's wife left the house." Here is the situation: there was only a teacher, there was no person. This is our situation in relation to others and the situation in which we put others in relation to ourselves. Until we change it, we will not be a reality, and others will not be a reality either. It is impossible to meet with a ghostly being or something even smaller than an individual who still has some kind of reality, even if this reality is painful, closed, devoid of any breadth. This is true in relation to God, as well as to people, because if we see only a teacher, and not a person, then when we come to God, we often collect scraps of knowledge, some concepts about Him and start praying not before the Living God, but before an idol, which we have collected from images and concepts, authentic to the extent that each image and concept corresponds to something in God, but becoming an obstacle at the moment when we say to ourselves: here is God.

Personality is completely different. I was just saying that this is a completely different problem: it's not about seeing yourself as a person - we can't do that. Personality, persona - this is what we are called to become, having overcome the individual, which we can empirically observe in ourselves. Personality can be revealed only in the One who knows it, that is, in God alone. We have a personality that is the image of the Living God. From the outside, this person appears under the guise of an individual. And here is the analogy that I would like to draw: we are a picture of the master, which has been updated from century to century until it became completely unrecognizable. We have become a caricature of the image of God. If you show the picture to a connoisseur, he will carefully examine it and say: in this portrait, the eyebrow, part of the face undoubtedly belong to the hand of the master, everything else does not. Then, studying this eyebrow - the technique, the colors, the perfect movement of the brush that gave birth to it - try to remove all these records layer by layer. Having removed one layer, we will say: this is deeper than the previous one, but still not the hand of the master; this is a recording, it is false in comparison with this stroke of the eyebrow, with that color scheme that already undoubtedly belongs to the master ... And so gradually we manage to clear the picture, return to the prototype, freed from the accumulated distortions.

And this is exactly what we must do with ourselves. But how? The Apostle Paul advises to find oneself in Christ and to find Christ in oneself. In this form, it can almost seem like a challenge: how to find Christ where, apparently, He is not, since He is completely hidden by layers of disfiguring records? I can give you a simple piece of advice that you can try and that I think might work. When you read Holy Scripture, especially the Gospel, if you are honest and do not take a pious posture from the very beginning, do not say: everything I find here is true, for this is God speaking, and I must approve and support everything, because thus I will take a right stand in foreseeing the Judgment of God—if you are just honest with yourself, you will see that there are three kinds of things in the gospel. Some do not particularly touch us, and in this case we are easily ready to say: since God says so, then it is so. And this does not bother us in the least, because we do not see any application of these words to our lives, and thus they do not pose any danger to our selfish comfort and to our refusal to follow the gospel.

There are other places, and if we are quite honest, we will say: no, I will not go for this ... I have an honest parishioner. I gave a lecture on the commandments of Beatitude, after which she came up to me and said: Master, if you call this beatitude, let it be for you. To be hungry, to be cold, to be abandoned, to be persecuted - no ... So, if you have at least a quarter of her honesty, you will reject three-quarters of the Gospel - and I'm not a pessimist yet.

Let's take an example: X ristos reveals to us a vulnerable, defenseless, defeated and therefore despised God. Having such a God is already unpleasant enough! But when He tells us: I gave you an example, follow it– then you can really say “no”. Well, say so. But we are not entirely black, and if you are honest on both sides, that is, if you do not defend yourself against the attractiveness of the Gospel, because it is dangerous for you, then you will see that there are one or two places in the Gospel, three phrases from which the mind is illuminated, the heart is illuminated, the heart is lit, the will gathers in the desire to follow the word, because it is so beautiful, so true, so perfectly and so completely coincides with what is deepest in you; your very body rushes along this path.

Mark these places; however rare they may be, these are the places where you already coincide with Christ, where in a portrait covered with inscriptions you have discovered the hand of the master, an island of tones of the prototype. And then remember one thing: in this phrase or in this gospel image, both Christ and you are simultaneously revealed; and once you have made this discovery, you no longer need to struggle with your nature in order to get as close as possible to the gospel spirit; it is enough to follow one's own nature, but the true nature, not a false, introduced image, but those features that are written by the master's hand. It's not about doing the opposite of everything you want to do (Christians often call this "being virtuous": the more I want to do it, the more virtuous it is not to do it), but to say: here's one, two points in which I found what is most genuine in me.

I want to be myself in the truest way... Do this, and when you do it carefully, with the joy of being and becoming more and more yourself, you will see another gap appear, a place similar, akin, so to speak, to several words that struck you. Gradually, the portrait is cleared away, one line appears, another colorful spot ... And so you are captured by the whole Gospel, not like an occupying army that conquers you with violence, but a liberating action, as a result of which you become more and more yourself. And you discover that being yourself means being in the image of the One who desired to be in our image so that we could be saved and changed.

So, here are two different, but correlative ways of self-knowledge: the knowledge of "I" - an individual who affirms himself, opposes himself, who rejects and denies the other; that “I” that does not want to see itself as it is, because it is ashamed and afraid of its ugliness; that "I" that never wants to be real, because to be real means to stand before the court of God and people; that “I” that does not want to hear what people say about him, even more so what God, the word of God, says about him.

And on the other hand, a person who finds his satisfaction, his fullness and his joy only in the disclosure of his prototype, the perfect image of what he is, an image that is liberated, blooms, opens - that is, more and more is revealed - and thereby more and more destroys the individual, until there is nothing left of him that is opposed, nothing self-affirming, and only the person remains - the hypostasis, which is the relation. Personality - which has always been only a state of love of the one who loves and the one who is loved - is released from the captivity of the individual and re-enters that harmony, which is Divine Love, containing all and revealing in each of us, as in the lights of the second, radiating the light of God around.

The questions in this article will help you get to know yourself better. By trying on different situations and asking yourself the right questions, you can discover thoughts and patterns in behavior that you usually miss. Grab a notebook and a pen and let's get started.

Know yourself.

1. Who are you?

Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind. The question is so broad that it even causes irritation. We cannot just look inside ourselves, psychological mirrors usually help with this. A psychological mirror is an intelligent person (ideally a psychotherapist) who would guide you. But if there are none nearby, then the right questions will replace them. And also a pen and paper to capture those thoughts and feelings that can be very well disguised and go unnoticed for a long time.

2. What is the meaning of life? What is love? Who are you?

These questions don't get a bad rap because they're incorrect. It's just that they are not broken into more precise pieces, so they are difficult to process. The question of who we are needs to be divided so that it is easier to assimilate. Not “Who am I?” But “Who am I at work, in relationships, with friends, children?”.

3. What happened to you as a child?

Jordan Whitt / Unsplash.com

The question seems ridiculous, but, unfortunately, it is not. Almost everything that we are today is the result of behavior patterns laid down in childhood (and safely forgotten). Children, because of their mindset, cannot fully understand the peculiarities of their own psyche. For the first 10 years, we live blindly before we even learn to understand our motives and emotions. Now it's time to go back and rethink them.

Freud's theory is overrated, discredited and considered wrong, you object. This is true in some key areas. But Freud's basic idea is considered in psychology to be undeniable and definitely true: the unconscious and childhood largely determine the choice of partners, sexual preferences and moral principles. Therefore, there is nothing left but to work with this difficult material.

4. What is shown in this picture?

This is a card from the association test, which was developed by the Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach. The idea is to show you something vague, indefinite, and then your imagination fills these vagueness with its own associations, while at the same time releasing some of your repressed fears, expectations, desires. People with hidden aggression will see hostility, scandal. People who suppress sexual desires - the vagina. What do you see?

5. Continue with the following sentences:

• In the heart of all men ...
• When you get to know them better, all the women...

A favorite technique of psychologists is to invite you to quickly, without hesitation, complete an incomplete sentence. We will not be able to fully control our unconscious, and therefore we will discover some important installations that we usually suppress. In the process of self-discovery, you are likely to be frightened by some things. But that's okay, we're all very strange.

6. Draw your family on a piece of paper

Draw a picture of parents, brothers and sisters, a house, a sun, a tree. This is not a strictly scientific method, but it leads to certain thoughts.

• The one you drew next to you is closest to you.
• The one who is at the greatest distance from you, and emotionally far from you.
• By the size of the figure depicting you, you can tell if you have high or low self-esteem.
• Home is an extension of you, your ego. Is he in good condition?
• Windows characterize the degree of your sociability. Does your house have a door? Do you let people into your life?

7. Are you optimistic about humanity and the future of the planet?

8. Did you sleep well last night?

nomao saeki / Unsplash.com

We tend to deny that there is any connection between the answers to these two questions, attributing all our thoughts about high dispassionate rational calculation. But we must accept the fact that, to some extent, our thoughts are influenced by the physical state: how we are, what we ate for dinner, how long ago we were hugged. In this sense, despite our large brains, we are not as far removed from babies as we once were.

9. What do you blame your parents for?

Why do you think they were the way they were? What pressured them and what difficulties did they experience? What can a good friend say about them?

Of course, your parents can take much of the blame for your failures. But shifting responsibility prevents you from better understanding what is happening in your life. Your parents were in the same position in relation to their parents and also cannot be fully responsible for their mental characteristics. What if we start thinking about the feelings of our parents, who, oddly enough, are also victims?

10. Let's say that you are a traditional sexual orientation. Have you ever wanted to touch the body of a person of the same gender as you?

Sigmund Freud made a brilliant discovery: much remains in the realm of the unconscious because of our own disgust or, as he called this phenomenon, resistance. The unconscious contains those feelings and desires that challenge our comfortable vision of ourselves. But the price for comfort is high: it is difficult to get to the bottom of the causes of anxiety and neuroses. So we need to come to terms with our cute oddities and contradictions.

Nathan Walker / Unsplash.com

The people we tend to think are attractive don't just seem so to us for objective reasons (because they're friendly, you can talk about politics with them, or they like sports like you). But also because they bring with them problems and difficulties that are especially attractive to us. Most of us go through the same suffering, which, as a rule, is associated with the suffering and experiences experienced in childhood.

12. How exactly does your partner annoy you?

Don't just blame the other person for shortcomings, such as being distant or overly sensitive. We must admit that, on the contrary, it is precisely these shortcomings that attract us. We look for them to reproduce the pattern of dissatisfaction we learned in childhood.

In general, in a relationship, we are not looking for what gives the most pleasure, but for what seems familiar, close. Understanding the nature of this driving force will help us learn to empathize with ourselves and treat our partner with greater understanding. After all, how does he know that we find him attractive in part because he might upset us?

13. Write down five qualities of a partner that are really difficult for you to live with.

A good partnership is possible not so much between two healthy mature people (there are not so many of them on our planet), but between two crazy people who are lucky to find a safe place for another person in themselves, among their relative insanity.

14. How do you feel when you start to like someone?

You may feel overwhelmed and begin to annoy this person, or, conversely, try to run away from a fan or admirer (“Why does he / she have such bad taste?”). This is a characteristic response of a person who does not know how to love himself, and about half of them (mainly because the people most important to us in the past were not interested in us). Start resisting suspicions about yourself. At least in order not to throw them out with rage at the person who shows interest in you.

15. What is the main problem in your relationship with your mother?

16. What is the main problem in your relationship with your father?

monkeybusiness / depositphotos.com

These questions may sound like a cliché, but it takes time for their true significance to emerge. Spend, say, one hour answering each question in writing. If you are honest, you will experience not the most pleasant emotions: sadness, anger, resentment. But in order to live on, you need to deal with your grievances and feelings.

17. What did you learn about relationships from your parents?

Humanity is showing unprecedented growth in terms of technological progress: we are learning more and transmitting our knowledge more efficiently. But we haven't even made nearly the same progress in the emotional realm. Because we do not realize enough that the negative patterns of behavior that we acquire in childhood, we reproduce in adulthood. Try to recognize yours before letting them out.

18. What slightly unhealthy, strange things do you find attractive in a partner?

Do your parents have these traits? According to the theory of repetition obsession from psychoanalysis, we are all drawn to the problematic things that we encountered as children. This does not mean that we will repeat all the actions that will lead to emotional trauma. In some cases, on the contrary, we will avoid every aspect associated with this experience, and thus continue to remain attached to it.

19. Make a List of People Who Really Attract You

Have you ever experienced, even if only fleetingly, sexual attraction of any kind to every person on this list? And did this attraction entail any difficulties, no matter for what reason (perhaps this person had a couple, or he is you, or did it make you doubt your sexual orientation)? The reasons for this excitement are always hidden in ourselves.

20. If you were to evaluate yourself impartially, what would you warn a friend about if he thought about a relationship with you?

People can tell a lot about themselves and their problems. Indeed, we do not need those who are completely free from any problems or shortcomings. We need people who are able to explain their problems and how they deal with them.

21. Explain what you think is happening in this picture?

It's not clear what's going on in this drawing, because the image is (intentionally) vague and ambiguous. Therefore, whatever you say comes from within. What details you add, what story you tell, reflects the state of your inner world. Especially if you are sure that you understand what is shown in the picture, and persistently prove it. This image is a test by which psychologists evaluate your psychological defense mechanism, projection.

22. What is shown here?

Another ambiguous picture. Here you can see many stories: a mother and her sick child, a wife who kills her husband a moment before the kiss. Write down what you think is going on here. Then ask a friend to do the same. Discuss what aspects of your life and personality you are unknowingly projecting onto the picture.

23. Write what you will answer to the phrase "I'm very sorry that we splashed your clothes, although we tried very hard to avoid a puddle"?

By your answer, you can judge the attitude towards disappointment. Typically, there are three options:

• we get angry, we go berserk;
• we do not go berserk because of an inner sense of shame, which does not allow us to reach the extreme point, even when there is a reason for it;
• we don't fly into a rage because we think that other people's reaction will be violent and unpleasant if we express our dissatisfaction.

24. How would other people react if you explained to them how you feel?

In childhood, we form a belief that will surely happen if we open our feelings. Since we were often turned away from us, we learned to hide our "bad" thoughts. And at first glance, we may seem obedient and friendly, but one has only to look deeper ...

To become a mature person, you need to understand the basis of self-knowledge: the world of childhood is not the whole world. This is one part of it, although it has a significant impact, from which we could not escape at one time. But, fortunately, we have become more eloquent and hardy than when we were five years old. Take courage and express your feelings.

25. What are your (or could be) shortcomings as a parent?

It is very difficult to imagine possible disadvantages, especially if we really want to be loving and kind parents. Nevertheless, we will have shortcomings, and they can be divided into two groups:

• recreated according to the type of unhealthy behavior patterns from their own childhood;
• overreacting to unhealthy childhood behaviors that have influenced our own behavior patterns.

26. Name three sexual scenarios that excite you the most.

Sexual fantasies can be interpreted as an attempt to recreate what causes us problems or is not available in the world outside of sex. So, for example, a uniform can attract because people in uniform seem to us strict and inspire fear. Or we want to be seen and heard in public because our parents were overly good-natured prudes. are little utopias that tell us about problematic bits of our biography.

27. What unusual sexual desires do you have?

DeborahKolb / depositphotos.com

Everyone has a fear of being (or appearing to be) a pervert. This is part of what makes us civilized. However, self-knowledge includes the recognition that the unconscious is, by its very nature, completely depraved and is no cause for alarm. We have extremely strong censorship mechanisms that prevent any of this from happening 99.9% of the time. At the same time, we can explore without fear what is hidden in us and affects our lives.

28. When did you cry or wanted to cry as an adult?

Most tears in adulthood are not caused by pain, but by the sight of something incredibly beautiful and close (reconciliation between father and son, sudden generosity of a stingy person, a beautiful garden). We remind ourselves how we want to see this one, and we become sad that we so rarely see it like this.

29. Write down the five most important things in your life. How much time do you spend on them?

There is a huge difference between what we say we value and what we end up doing. Paradoxically, we don't devote enough attention, time and resources to the things we care about the most. It is very important to realize this. Try to reduce this difference.

30. What things do you often buy that don't bring you that much joy?

We believe in advertising, which, among other things, masterfully convinces us of what we should want. It is not surprising that we often do not bring us any satisfaction, but only boredom and anxiety: clothes that gather dust in the closet after one exit, cars that do not justify their high price, and so on. We must keep track not only of our spending, but also of the pleasure (say, on a scale of 1 to 10) that shopping brings us.

31. What are you trying to say with your clothes?

Any clothing can be equated to the form of a certain category of people. It reflects who we see ourselves as and which group we belong to. In addition, our physical appearance can provide important information about some of our anxieties. What are you trying to protect yourself from with clothing?

32. Name three works of art that mean a lot to you.

dutchlight / depositphotos.com

Often we love in art what we lack in our real life. Our taste is evidence of a need. For example, we like peaceful pictures because we are in a hurry all the time. Or carefree music, because we feel a lot of restrictions in our lives. Taste reflects not only who we are, but also how we would like to see ourselves.

33. What do you regret the most?

We so often regret something. After all, sometimes in life you have to make important decisions without having an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat you have to face, for example, whom to marry or marry, where to live, what profession to choose. We have to go blindly, and this is not our fault. We must learn to share our regrets and worries. It's the only way to feel less alone.

34. What are you a little addicted to?

Alcohol, shopping, cigarettes, porn, arguments… Addiction cannot be strictly defined as attachment to one particular substance, this concept is much broader. - this is a feeling of a strong need for something, and the cause is most often a serious problem in some area of ​​\u200b\u200bour life. Therefore, you do not need to dwell on the substance or action that causes addiction. Focus on the sorrows and anxieties that fuel your addiction to him. Understand that you are not a bad person, it is just that your suffering is manifested in this way. And the solution to the problem of addiction lies in overcoming this suffering.

35. Make a list of three things that annoy you about the person next to you.

Small insignificant things upset us because they are directly related to more global problems. They go against some of our psychological expectations, such as punctuality, privacy, organization ... Ideally, we need to understand what global things matter to us and protect them, treating with indulgence the little things that people sometimes unintentionally do.

36. What negative traits of your character would you not like to show people?

Almost certainly everyone is already aware of these shortcomings. Other people know more about us in five minutes than we do about ourselves decades later, because their knowledge of the other is not suppressed by the unconscious. Being honest with others comes easy. Instead of hoping that no one will ever notice yours, assume that everyone already knows about them. And in the future, treat them with a little humor and self-irony.

37. Arrange the following concepts in descending order of importance in your work:

• money;
• status;
• creation;
• impact on society;
• colleagues.

Our career aspirations are influenced by three forces:

• parents' hopes
• society's (other people's) expectations;
• feelings that arise in our work.

We are usually the least likely to listen to ourselves. And most often the first two forces win. It may take several decades before we recognize the horrific fact that we worked only for the sake of a parent (who may have already died) or for the sake of outsiders and, most often, people who are indifferent to us. It's probably not too late now.

38. If you knew that you would not fail in your profession, what would you try?

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Often we are afraid of embarrassing ourselves because our aspirations and desires for a career do not correspond to our real knowledge or skills. And so we don't even try. And this is an exact guarantee that your aspirations will never become a reality. We owe it to ourselves to do this and speak out loud about what we want to do and who we want to be, even if it is not easy and fails without failure.

39. What things have made you jealous lately?

We were taught that envy is bad, and strictly forbidden to do so. But in fact, people or things that we envy help us better understand our innermost desires, and this, in turn, tells us a lot about ourselves as a person. Try to keep a diary of your envious feelings, do not accumulate them in yourself and try to make your dreams come true.

40. Why might co-workers criticize you behind your back?

And there is nothing to be offended about. Your fears are well founded. Everything that you suspect could have occurred to others, and this is already a reality. The point is not to try to avoid such imaginary gossip, but to take action to combat its existence: do not give others a reason to criticize, strive to be better.

41. What or who do you associate yourself with?

• If I were the weather, I would be...
• If I were furniture, I would be...
• If I were a car brand, I would be...
• If I were a genre of music, I would be...
• If I were food, I would be...
• If I were an animal, I would be...
• If I were a typeface, I would be...

For ourselves, we are something vague and formless, but sometimes we can recognize the key features of our personality through metaphors and analogies. The animal is most often particularly revealing.

42. Have you ever been unfair to others?

Make a list of guilt-inducing experiences when you were particularly unfair to specific people and lashed out at them.

What makes you worry? If you shared your concern, would the situation change? In the future, try to let others know that you are upset, instead of making a fuss over petty things.

43. How do you react to stimuli?

Someone annoys you. What do you say: “You are so annoying when…” or “I feel annoyed when you…”?

Psychologists prefer the second formulation: in their opinion, this approach is the essence of good communication. By describing how others affect you rather than blaming them, you don't put people on the defensive. Therefore, most likely, they will listen to you. Self-knowledge helps to separate what applies to you and what applies to the people around you.

44. Which of the following applies to you?

• When my partner upsets me, I lose interest, withdraw and want to be alone.
• When my partner upsets me, I panic, fly into a rage and start a fight.

These are the two most common and unhealthy reactions when you get hurt in. Psychologists describe the first situation as attachment avoidance and the second as anxious attachment. Choose the third option correctly: explain what hurts you, calmly, confidently and without unnecessary vindictiveness. Only 10% of people do this. But this is the right decision if you want to build a mature relationship.

45. Write down all the bad things about your relationship with your parents and then with your loved one.

Please note that the problems pop up are the same. Or at least you can see the connection between them. There is irony in this. Maybe it's time to resolve conflicts?

46. ​​What prevents you from making decisions?

Our brain has its flaws. Be prepared that when you make important decisions, you will feel them for yourself. See mistakes as an opportunity to learn about your weaknesses and take action. Be vigilant when you come to conclusions about your shortcomings, do not let them interfere with you.

47. What is the first association that comes to mind when you hear these words:

• skirt;
• carrot;
• wool;
• lock;
• movie;
• shot.

We've become so good at hiding what's going on in our hearts that the only way to recognize what's really bothering us is to turn our minds off for a while. Analyze your answers, think about what hidden fears and desires they may indicate.

48. How would you describe yourself?

Describe yourself using four adjectives. Ask three friends to do the same. Compare and contrast scores. What did you miss? What have you learned about yourself?

49. Map your failures

Write down your failures, indicating the approximate date they occurred. Next to each failure, write what it taught you.

You must recognize patterns. And the best we can do is to understand what behavior leads us to and what they give us as a result.

50. What did you literally just lie to someone in your circle about?

None of us live in absolutely ideal conditions. White lies are the price of belonging to society. The desire for complete transparency is a naive and dangerous illusion.

51. Continue the phrases:

• If a truly kind person wanted to praise me, he would say...
• If a truly cruel person was judging me, he would say...

Learn to stick to the golden mean between these two extremes. Be a demanding but generous friend to yourself.

52. In sex, do you dominate or obey? What about the rest of your life?

Usually the second answer is the opposite of the first. In other words, sex is compensation and stress relief from ordinary existence.

53. What things in your life would make your loved ones worry if they found out about them?

It is perfectly normal to have secrets that even the closest people are unaware of. We try not to scare those we love.

54. What would you like to achieve in your career in a year, five, ten years?

To have your own plans means not to be the executor of someone else's.

55. What was your favorite thing to do as a child?

Are you experiencing similar feelings now? A good career involves connecting your adult activities and childhood hobbies and feelings.

Ecology of consciousness. Psychology: Most people have never asked themselves these questions. And if they did, they did not try to find a truthful answer to them. It's not even about the answer itself, but about finding it. Each of these questions can lead you to certain thoughts about yourself and the world around you, even if you do not find the answer. They are able to get someone off the ground and make them think about what they usually do not want to think about.

Most people have never asked themselves these questions - 100 questions to know yourself

Most people have never asked themselves these questions. And if they did, they did not try to find a truthful answer to them. It's not even about the answer itself, but about finding it. Each of these questions can lead you to certain thoughts about yourself and the world around you, even if you do not find the answer. They are able to get someone off the ground and make them think about what they usually do not want to think about.

The order of the questions does not really matter, I posted them in the order in which they came to mind. Although several questions that follow each other can be connected logically.

Do not get hung up on the formulation of the question and the search for an answer to it. First of all, you must start thinking, reflecting, and this is the main task that I put into this article. Therefore, there is no need to look for any hidden background in the wording. Just think.

I warn you, many questions are uncomfortable, they can hurt your pride, make you think about something unpleasant, but you need to ask yourself them, because many problems cannot simply be ignored. And it is better to ask them to yourself now, think carefully and come to some decision than to reap the consequences of delusions and wrong choices later.

Even though these questions make you feel uncomfortable, the purpose of these questions is not to upset you, but to encourage you to take certain actions. Do not get used to problems, but find solutions for them! Many of these questions I asked and ask myself, and they help me to know myself more deeply and, using this knowledge, move on. If you are not confident in your moral strength, suffer from depression, then it is better to skip this article, as in this case, questions can plunge you into despondency.

If I understand that it is difficult for me to communicate with some people, then I think about how to avoid this. If I understand that I am lazy, then I think about how to strengthen discipline.

In general, I am determined to solve the problem, and not just to put my head down and resign myself to the circumstances. I want you to be attuned as well.

How to answer questions?

You don't have to answer all at once. You may need to think carefully. Do not rush to immediately answer the question, it may turn out to be a template answer, due to the stereotypes that have developed in your thinking. These stereotypes are designed to simplify your thinking and protect your ego from the possibility of self-blame. They work instantly, offering you the most psychologically "comfortable" answer. But such an answer does not mean an honest one. So take time to reflect, try to get to the bottom of it, and be as honest with yourself as possible.

Hint: most of the problems are in yourself, not in the outside world. And these problems can be solved by working on yourself.

Some questions include approval. For example, "why do you smoke?" If you don't smoke, skip this question, it doesn't apply to you. The same applies to all such questions.

Some questions may puzzle some, but leave others indifferent. This is fine. It is impossible to predict in advance which path your chain of thought will take and what can attract your attention.

Questions:

1. Why should I care what other people think of me?

2. How do my friends treat me?

3. Why can't I be alone?

4. Why do I drink alcohol?

5. Why am I shy and shy?

6. How do my children feel about me?

7. Why is it difficult for me to make friends?

8. Do I have to be better than everyone else in absolutely everything?

9. Fate is unfair to me. So what?

10. Why do I swear a lot?

11. What is happening in the world?

12. What is happening in my country?

13. What happens at my work?

14. What do I want from life?

15. Why are my plans not being fulfilled?

16. Am I satisfied with my choice?

17. Why be nervous and worried?

18. Who is responsible for what happened in my life in this way and not otherwise?

19. Who is responsible for the fact that I became like this?

20. Is the life path that I have chosen for myself the only possible one?

21. What is stopping me from living the life I want to live?

22. Does anyone owe me something?

23. Do I owe something to someone?

24. Why do I fight with my wife/husband? What's the point of this? Are we gaining something of value as a result of these conflicts?

25. Why do my emotions take over me?

26. I'm in a bad mood. So what?

27. Why do I need a tenth dress or a third watch?

28. What will happen to me in ten, twenty, thirty years? Will my life change somehow if I keep doing what I'm doing? Am I satisfied with these prospects?

29. What will happen to my health if I continue to lead the lifestyle that I lead now?

30. What will happen to me when I get old and can not find pleasure in those things that give me joy now (sex, food, drink)?

31. Do I like my job?

32. Am I satisfied with my job as a source of income and life's work?

33. Why can't I organize other sources of income?

34. What happens if I lose my job?

35. Why don't I work remotely?

36. Why am I not running my own business?

37. I was less fortunate than others. So what?

38. What will I be doing this weekend? What about the next ones? What do I do every weekend?

39. Why do I smoke?

40. Do I get enough rest?

41. Do I have enough free time?

42. Am I getting enough sleep?

43. Am I in good physical shape?

44. Do I feel good?

45. Do I manage to maintain concentration?

46. ​​How to eat right?

47. Am I making enough time for my loved ones?

48. Why am I late at work? What happens if I leave on time?

49. Why do I profess this particular religion and not another? Are all other religions wrong?

50. Do I diligently keep the commandments of my faith? If not, how can I be sure of the salvation of the soul?

51. What is the meaning of suffering?

52. What are my interests, hobbies? What am I into?

53. How much time do I spend on social media?

54. How long do I watch TV?

55. How many books have I read in the last year?

56. What other interesting music is there?

57. Am I educated and erudite enough?

58. Why does the Earth not fall into the Sun?

59. How is genetic information encoded?

60. What does an atom consist of?

61. How many foreign languages ​​do I know?

63. When was the last time I agreed with someone else's opinion, which was different from mine and openly admitted it?

64. What is the point in those disputes in which each participant does not want to accept the opinions of the other? Is there truth in such disputes?

65. Why should I prove something to someone?

66. When was the last time I praised people, said sincere compliments to them?

67. How am I better than those people whom I do not like?

68. Why do some people dislike me?

69. Why do they love me?

70. Why do I love those whom I love?

71. Have I put enough effort into strengthening my strengths and getting rid of my shortcomings?

72. How long have I been giving gifts just like that, for no reason?

73. Have I been visiting my elderly relatives for a long time?

74. Are there many people who will give me disinterested help if I need it?

75. When was the last time I cleaned my house?

76. Do I often stay alone and think about life?

77. When was the last time I did something that others did not approve of, but in the end I was satisfied with my choice?

78. Do I get things done?

79. Do I have a developed sense of humor?

80. Do I laugh a lot?

81. Do I enjoy life?

82. Am I happy?

83. Do I often complain about life?

84. Many people live in conditions of hunger, lack of shelter and their lives are in constant danger. Why do I consider my problems so significant and serious?

85. Am I doing everything to improve my life?

86. Why do wars happen?

87. Where do my fears come from? Why am I afraid of mice if they can't harm me?

88. Why should I be offended by others?

89. Why should I pretend to be someone I really am not?

90. What are my biggest life mistakes?

91. Why am I lonely?

92. How do my principles, my worldview help me?

93. What kind of people are my friends? Why are we together?

94. What determines my behavior?

95. When was the last time I cleaned up my apartment or workplace?

96. What is good, what is bad?

97. Do I listen carefully to other people?

98. Have I brought much suffering to others?

99. Why am I ashamed of my loved ones?

100. What do I know about death?published .

If you have any questions on this topic, ask them to specialists and readers of our project .

This problem remains relevant, since self-knowledge is an integral part of human life.

The meaning of this statement is that self-knowledge is achieved only through actions. Contemplating the action is impossible to know yourself.

I fully support the opinion of the great poet and thinker Goethe. A person can know himself by performing certain activities. Getting into certain situations, circumstances, you can find out what the behavior of a person will be. And this activity should be different.

After all, human behavior manifests itself in different ways, depending on the conditions in which the person is located. In a given situation, certain human traits, principles, values ​​are manifested, which are one of the factors of self-knowledge.

The very concept of "self-knowledge" means the study of one's own physical and psychological characteristics. This is self-understanding.

Action is the active behavior of people

Contemplation is a way of cognitive activity. But in this activity it is not always realistic to know oneself.

A bright personality who knew himself through actions is Rodion Raskolnikov from Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment.

By doing certain things, he revealed himself. His self-knowledge occurred through his actions throughout the entire work. As a result, he argued with himself. Only after comprehending his deeds, he understood what he was like in his soul, what values ​​​​and principles he had.

Thus, summing up, I can note that self-knowledge of a person is impossible without knowing oneself in certain situations and actions.

Effective preparation for the exam (all subjects) - start preparing

Updated: 2018-03-10

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• How can you know yourself? Only by action, never by contemplation. Try to do your duty and you will immediately know yourself