“An Unexamined Life Isn’t Worth Living.”

>    This is a very interesting quote, and it can be perceived  many ways. To
>me, this
>quote has a good message and morale behind it.  One definition for the word
>examine is
>‘To determine the aptitude or skill of by questioning’ Unexamine then,
>could be seen as
>not questioning aptitude or skill of something, or even not measuring it’s
>worth.
>Therefore, this quote could be interpreted as meaning that a life where you
>do not test and
>question yourself  of your worth, and do not investigate your own talents,
>natural ability,
>and learning capacity is not worth living. In simpler terms, by saying
>this, Socrates might
>be implying in that you must both question your decisions, and learn about
>yourself,
>understand yourself, and try to expand your mind to it’s fullest in order
>to get the most
>out of life. If you do not understand yourself and try to gather as much
>information as you
>can , your life isn’t worth it. At the same time you must not be overly
>confident, but must,
>in knowing yourself and having foresight of you future, carefully consider
>all of your
>choices and use your knowledge of what you know about yourself and what you
>want to
>do with your life to your advantage in your decisions. You also must think
>about your life
>in the past and be careful to note all of your mistakes in order to prevent
>repeating them.
>
>    Another way that a person may interpret this statement is this. A second
>meaning
>for the word examine is ‘ To inspect or analyze (a person place thing or
>situation) in great
>detail’ With this definition, you can also come back to what I said above
>about how I
>thought; to inspect or analyze yourself in detail, including your mind,
>your talents, natural
>ability, and your previous mistakes and life past. It all comes back to the
>same definition.
>So, using the quote, “An unexamined life isn’t worth living” it can be
>changed slightly
>from the first translation I made if you use the second definition for
>examine and
>unexamine. It can be change from the first translation “A life where you do
>not think about
>and question your own worth,  investigate your  talents, natural ability,
>and learning
>capacity as well as carefully study your past life, mistakes, and plan for
>the future isn’t
>worth living.”  to “ A life not carefully analyzed and inspected in detail
>isn’t worth living.”
>With both of these put together I have come up with a joined statement that
>says it all
>from my perspective.  “A life without thought isn’t worth living.” To me,
>this and all of
>the above is what those few words mean.
>
>           By Lauralina Desaine