Know thyself

Know thyself. Live true to oneself. What does this mean? Is the genuine self ever-absent, waiting for a moment of 'truth' in order to come into being? How must life feel for the tormented soul? He cannot know himself, for that understanding is filled with hatred and nothing else. He lives out the lives set out for him. He follows the path crafted out for him. And somewhere at the end of that path supposedly lies redemption, a salvation promised at the start of his journey. Fulfilment, acclaim, and true being is achieved. For him, know thyself is appropriately extraneous to a predestined path to actualization.