Know Yourself

We may spend years mastering the external world – acquiring degrees, advancing careers, building families – without ever turning inwards to make sense of the person orchestrating it all: ourselves. This book is a guide to the elusive, essential task of self-knowledge. With clarity, gentleness and depth, it explores why we are often mysteries to ourselves, how our childhoods quietly script our behaviours and why seemingly trivial experiences – an abrupt word, a strange dream, a lingering mood – can hold the keys to profound insight. Drawing on the wisdom of philosophy and psychotherapy, Know Yourself teaches us how to tune in to our inner signals, revisit the past without fear and better understand our desires, fears, patterns and longings. It is a call to begin the lifelong project of making sense of who we are – so that we might suffer less, connect more deeply with others and lead calmer, freer lives.

We may spend years mastering the external world – acquiring degrees, advancing careers, building families – without ever turning inwards to make sense of the person orchestrating it all: ourselves. This book is a guide to the elusive, essential task of self-knowledge. With clarity, gentleness and depth, it explores why we are often mysteries to ourselves, how our childhoods quietly script our behaviours and why seemingly trivial experiences – an abrupt word, a strange dream, a lingering mood – can hold the keys to profound insight. Drawing on the wisdom of philosophy and psychotherapy, Know Yourself teaches us how to tune in to our inner signals, revisit the past without fear and better understand our desires, fears, patterns and longings. It is a call to begin the lifelong project of making sense of who we are – so that we might suffer less, connect more deeply with others and lead calmer, freer lives.