The inscription on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece, is a triple imperative life guideline: “Know thyself! Nothing in excess [or, too much]! Make a pledge…!” The first, ‘know thyself’, had been Socrates’ personal quest, since the Oracle of Delphi pronounced him ‘the wisest of all men’. The second, ‘nothing in excess’ [or, in Latin, ‘ne quid nimis’], in a word, temperance, was the code of conduct which he girded his entire being—body, mind, and soul—with towards completing that quest. As for the third, ‘make a pledge’, was the final movement of consecration by which he crowned that quest as the telos of his life. The order of the maxims, or imperatives, was no capricious randomness. Nothing in excess is situated in-between the other two as it is the dual-directional nexus.
For one to know their self—to become fully cognizant, or wholly conscious, of which—is the purest and most life-enriching of human science. The attainment—more so the unveiling, given that all science is reminiscence according to Socrates—of the knowledge of the self cannot manifest itself by means of meager volitional force. It must needs be carried on with indefatigable volition, corresponding to its inherent facet as being a lifelong odyssey. Therefore, one pledges his life towards that end. But in order for the exploration of the self to propel a wholehearted steadfast pledge, the noise (i.e. every perceptible input that is not integral to that exploration) of life has to be tuned down to functional inconsequentiality: nothing in excess, or, ne quid nimis, of its optimal level of necessity.
That is the first direction in which ‘nothing in excess’, or, ne quid nimis, flows: from ‘know thyself’ towards ‘make a pledge’.
As it reverses, flowing in the second direction (from the pledge towards knowing one’s self), for the pledge to be maintained interminably ne quid nimis constitutes a conditio sine qua non in the face of the most psychologically as well as emotionally brutal strain of all tempus i.e. time, itself. As the Latin saying goes, “Compendiaria res improbitas, virtusque tarda.” [A rough translation of which, “Vice is summary in its procedure, virtue is slow,” (“Dictionary of Latin Phrases”); or, as Nassim Nicholas Taleb puts it—which I deem a more apt translation vis-á-vis this context—“the villainous takes the short road, virtue the longer one,” (Taleb 34)].
Time is a trickster, a malign genie (an evil genius)—to borrow Descartes’ terminology—, that sows the seeds of pernicious haste and exigency; which inadvertently results in a gluttonous exploitation of the good; hence corrupting the essence of the latter: converting it to a nefarious toxin that would, unbeknownst to the individual, ensnare the mind in an impossible to disentangle web of preparatory and anticipatory thoughts and actions; thus, inhibiting execution; and would eventually steer the person off the course thither their grand and chief end of exploring the self.
For the truth of the matter is this:
To elucidate the issue more properly, let’s consider the consumption of motivational content. Reading, listening to, and observing motivational content normally contributes positively towards the exploration of the self. That sort of content—to a certain degree—reignites the fire of determination within a person. Nevertheless, people all too often forget the imperative ‘nothing in excess’, or, ne quid nimis, they become addicted to the exposure to motivational content; visualizing a multitude of bright futures; which, with the passage of enough time for them to graft onto the subconscious, their visualizers begin to anticipate their manifestation—more so, actualization—the morrow. The reality however is that they spend hours and days consuming motivation rather than converting what has been consumed into functional fuel to be exerted in the execution phase. Just as with vitamins. One may consume vitamins ‘not in excess’ of their body’s need, lest the body becomes treacherously intoxicated.
The bottom line is, one does not need to consume motivational content every ten minutes or so. Once motivated, get to work. For once you’re active, motivation becomes self-regenerating fuel.
Always remember: ne quid nimis!
Reference
Taleb, Nassim N. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life. Random House, 2018.
“Dictionary of Latin Phrases.” Short Stories and Classic Literature, americanliterature.com/latin-phrases. Accessed 27 Aug. 2021.
