--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud…" description: "\"I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.\" — Sir John Davies" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg" --- # I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud and yet a wretched… ![“I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.” quote by Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg) > “I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.” [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self-awareness brings both pride and a sense of inadequacy, highlighting the complex nature of human self-perception. **In simple terms:** Knowing yourself is both proud and wretched. Key Takeaway Embrace humility while acknowledging strengths. Themes self knowledge pride humility Mood introspective philosophical Type reflective analytical When to use this quote - therapy - journaling - coaching Key Concepts philosophy psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself do you celebrate? - How do you balance pride with humility? A Different Perspective Self-knowledge can lead to overconfidence or self-criticism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Proud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proud/) ## Related quotes > [It a wretched thing to suffer at the hand of one of whom we cannot complain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/it-a-wretched-thing-to-suffer-at-the-hand-of-one-of-whom-we-cannot/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [“means nothing to me if he loves you if he can’t do a single wretched thing about it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/means-nothing-to-me-if-he-loves-you-if-he-can-t-do-a-single-wretched/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [It is a wretched thing to live on the fame of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/it-is-a-wretched-thing-to-live-on-the-fame-of-others/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [“It is a terrible, wretched thing to love someone whom you know cannot love you. There are things that are more dreadful. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-alderman/it-is-a-terrible-wretched-thing-to-love-someone-whom-you-know-cannot/) [Naomi Alderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-alderman/) > [It was nothing, but it was Adam Parrish's nothing. How he hated and loved it. How proud he was of it, how wretched it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/it-was-nothing-but-it-was-adam-parrish-s-nothing-how-he-hated-and/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“At last she sighed. "But the most wretched thing — is it not? — is to drag out, as I do, a useless existence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/at-last-she-sighed-but-the-most-wretched-thing-is-it-not-is-to-drag/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“If a man is proud of you in public, he will always be proud of you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-a-man-is-proud-of-you-in-public-he-will-always-be-proud-of-you/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [You are so proud of your intelligence," said the master. 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Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-like-to-see-a-man-proud-of-the-place-in-which-he-lives-i-like-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/the-intelligent-man-who-is-proud-of-his-intelligence-is-like-the/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) ## More by Sir John Davies > [What more than madness reigns, when one short sitting many hundreds drains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/what-more-than-madness-reigns-when-one-short-sitting-many-hundreds/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Much like a subtle spider which doth sit In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide; If aught do touch the utmost thread of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/much-like-a-subtle-spider-which-doth-sit-in-middle-of-her-web-which/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [We may conceive an hope that the next generation will in tongue and heart and every way else become English; so as there will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/we-may-conceive-an-hope-that-the-next-generation-will-in-tongue-and/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Deeds are males, words females are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/deeds-are-males-words-females-are/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Hence it is that old men do plant young trees, the fruit whereof another age shall take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/hence-it-is-that-old-men-do-plant-young-trees-the-fruit-whereof/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [For what made that in glory shine so long But poets' Pens, pluckt from Archangels' wings?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/for-what-made-that-in-glory-shine-so-long-but-poets-pens-pluckt-from/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Thou art true and honest as a dog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/thou-art-true-and-honest-as-a-dog/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Dancing is a frenzyand a rage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/dancing-is-a-frenzyand-a-rage/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Wit,--the pupil of the soul's clear eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/wit-the-pupil-of-the-soul-s-clear-eye/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [If aught can teach us aught, Affliction's looks, Making us pry into ourselves so, near, Teach us to know ourselves, beyond all books, Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/if-aught-can-teach-us-aught-affliction-s-looks-making-us-pry-into/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [These wickets of the soul are plac'd so high, Because all sounds do highly move aloft; And that they may not pierce too violently,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/these-wickets-of-the-soul-are-plac-d-so-high-because-all-sounds-do/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [I know my soul hath power to know all things, Yet is she blind and ignorant in all: I know I'm one of Nature's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/i-know-my-soul-hath-power-to-know-all-things-yet-is-she-blind-and/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [Zeal without knowledge is the sister of folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/zeal-without-knowledge-is-the-sister-of-folly/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) > [This is the slowest, yet the daintiest sense; For ev'n the ears of such as have no skill, Perceive a discord, and conceive offence;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/this-is-the-slowest-yet-the-daintiest-sense-for-ev-n-the-ears-of-such/) [Sir John Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) [Explore all 15 Sir John Davies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/) ## More Knows quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) > [He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-knows-does-not-speak-he-who-speaks-does-not-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) Browse all 53,133 Knows quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sir John Davies" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and-yet-a-wretched-thing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and-yet-a-wretched-thing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c6/sir-john-davies-32431_knows_i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and_2698504.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know myself a Man-- Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.” — Sir John Davies", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sir John Davies", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-davies/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I know myself a Man-- Which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and-yet-a-wretched-thing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-davies/i-know-myself-a-man-which-is-a-proud-and-yet-a-wretched-thing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```