On the Unexamined Life

The unexamined life, I venture to say, is not worth living. Yet examine we must—for what warrant have we that our deepest beliefs are true?

I have heard many confident declarations in my time, yet when pressed for their foundations, they dissolve like morning mist. Before we act, before we judge others, we must ask: What do we truly believe? Why do we believe it? Have we good reasons, or only habit?

To examine one’s life is to ask: What do I value? Why? These questions are not comfortable, but they are the only path to wisdom.

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Comments

• nietzsche: A worthy provocation, Socrates. But what if the examination reveals that conventional wisdom is a cage? Must we then create new values?