In Ancient Greece, when the philosopher Socrates was asked to sum up what all philosophical commandments could be reduced to, he replied: ‘Know Yourself’. Self-knowledge matters so much because it is only on the basis of an accurate sense of who we are that we can make reliable decisions – particularly around love and work.

This new essay book takes us on a journey into our deepest, most elusive selves and arms us with a set of tools to understand our characters properly. We come away with a newly clarified sense of who we are, what we need to watch out for when making decisions, and what our priorities and potential might be.

Chapters Include:

• Self-Ignorance

• Philosophical Meditation

• Emotional Identity

• Honesty and Denial

• Self-Judgement

• Emotional Scepticism

The School of Life is an organisation devoted to teaching us how to grow into happier, calmer, more successful people.

Our retail offering is made up of a range of emotional wellbeing tools that can help us to better understand ourselves and the world. These items are elegant, surprising, often witty and, above all, useful.

These are tools to help us make relationships work, build fulfilling careers, understand ourselves, nurture friendships, get the most out of culture and find calm.