# CCLVII explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A brief reflection on women's self-knowledge and their relationship with men's understanding of them.

## Key lines

> If women knew themselves the fact that men do not know them would flatter them less and content them more.

If women truly understood themselves, they would be less flattered and more satisfied by men's lack of understanding of them.

_A paradoxical aphorism about self-knowledge and external validation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/cclvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters