Day 2 · Q1: Self-Knowledge · January 2, 2026
Pause. Breathe. Begin.
I . L E C T I O
Plato
Phaedrus, 230a
“I am not yet able, as the Delphic inscription has it, to know myself; so it seems to me ridiculous, when I do not yet know that, to investigate irrelevant things.”
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C O N T E X T
Socrates — as channeled by Plato — confesses that self-knowledge is harder and more urgent than any other pursuit. The Delphic inscription he refers to is "Know Thyself," carved above the entrance to the Temple of Apollo.
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I I . M E D I T A T I O
“What 'irrelevant things' do you investigate to avoid knowing yourself?”
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I I I . S C R I P T I O
Write one sentence about what you avoid looking at within yourself.
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I V . C O N N E X I O
How does today's admission by Socrates deepen yesterday's claim that the unexamined life is not worth living?
This practice exists because of readers like you.
Sustain it →Tomorrow's passage, delivered at dawn.