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The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
- William James
The Greek philosopher Socrates claimed that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” It appears from Plato’s dialogues, in which Socrates is the main character and protagonist, that he lived up to this claim, as he went around Athens questioning the leading men of the city about their virtues. He was, in effect, forcing others to examine their lives in a very public way. As a social critic, Socrates apparently created enough animosity that he was eventually charged with corrupting the youth of Athens. At his trial, Socrates explained that he was doing a great service to the city by acting as a gadfly that was intended to stir the city to self-examination and virtuous action. Apparently, the citizens of Athens didn’t see it that way and sentenced him to death, and Socrates accepted his fate with calm resignation. And while it is certainly good to subject our lives, and especially our inner lives, to examination, we can take this too far, becoming selfobsessed. Try to live the best life you can, and when others criticize you, take their criticisms seriously, but don’t spend too much time in self-examination. Action is the key to a good life. Get out there and do all the good that you can, whenever you can and wherever you can.
–Christopher Simon
