“Know thyself” – a maxim as pernicious as it is odious. A person observing himself would arrest his own development. Any caterpillar who tried to “know himself” would never become a butterfly.
“Nouvelles Nourritures” by André Gide
Today’s xkcd by Randall Munroe is … brilliant — and perhaps for some people very hard to stomach:
If after several trials you still don’t succeed, perhaps it’s time to seek a professional … it doesn’t have to be the great success, but at least incremental successes should be achievable.