The mischiefs of self-ignorance and the benefits of self-acquaintance opened in divers sermons at…

ut illud prius, quod maturius movet ad salutem: Quo studio; ut illud ardentius, quod vehementius ad amorem: Quo fine; ut non ad inanem gloriam & ostentationem, sed ad tuam & aliorum salutem] saith Bernard. You will know in what order, with what study, and to what end every thing should be known: In what order, that that may go first, that most promoteth our salvation: with what study or desire; that we ⟨p. 136⟩may know that most ardently, which most vehemently provoketh Love: To what end; that it be not for vain glory and ostentation, but for your own and other mens salvation.]

And as it is our selves and our own affairs that are nearest to us, and therefore first in order to be known; so it is our selves that we have a special charge of, and that we are most obliged to study and to know, and it is our own condition and soul-affairs that most concern us. Though Sun and Moon, and earth, be not little things in themselves; yet the knowledge of them is a small inconsiderable matter to thee in comparison of the knowledge of thy self. The words even of Seneca are so pungent on this subject, that I shall recite some of them to shame those professed Christians that are so much short of a heathen. [Quid ad virtutem viam sternit syllabarum enarratio, verborum diligentia, & fabularum memoria, & versuum lex & modificatio? Quid ex his metum demit, cupiditatem fraenat?] What furtherance to virtue is the enarration of syllables, the diligence of words, the remembering of fables, and the law and modification of Verses? What of these taketh away fear, and bridleth concupiscence? Metiri me Geometer docet ⟨p. 137⟩latifundia: potius doceat quomodo metiar quantum homini satis sit: Docet quomodo nihil perdam ex finibus meis: at ego discere volo quomodo totum hilaris amittam. Scis rotunda metiri: si artifex es, metire hominis animum; dic quam magnus, dic quam pusillus sit. Scis quae recta sit linea: quid tibi prodest si quid in vita rectum sit ignoras?] The Geometrian teacheth me to measure spacious grounds: let him rather teach me to measure how much is sufficient for a man: He teacheth me how I may lose nothing of my possessions: But that which I would learn is, how I may lose all with a cheerful mind. Thou canst measure rounds; if thou be an artist, measure the mind of man; tell me how great it is, or how little or low. Thou knowest a strait line: and what the better art thou if thou know not what is right or strait in thy own life?] Hoc scire quid proderit, ut solicitus sim, quum Saturnus & Mars è contrario stabunt?