Socrates
Classical Athenian philosopher, the figure whose life and death gave Western philosophy its founding myth — the gadfly of Athens, condemned to death in 399 BCE for 'corrupting the youth' and 'impiety,' who chose to drink hemlock rather than abandon the philosophical life. Born around 470 BCE, son of a stonemason and a midwife, Socrates served as a hoplite in the Peloponnesian War and then turned to the questioning of his fellow citizens in the Athenian agora — a practice that produced no writings of his own but that his student Plato preserved in the great early dialogues (Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Symposium, Meno, Theaetetus). Xenophon's Memorabilia and Aristophanes's Clouds offer alternative portraits. The Socratic method — relentless questioning that reveals the questioner does not know what he thought he knew — became the foundation of philosophical inquiry; the Socratic claim that 'the unexamined life is not worth living' became its motto. He died in 399 BCE in Athens, surrounded by his students.
115
quotes in library
Quotes by Socrates
115 quotes“From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.”
desireattributed (no firm source)
“My belief is that to have no wants is divine.”
wantsDiogenes Laertius (citing Socrates)
“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.”
knowledgePlato's Apology (paraphrase)
“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
wisePlato's Apology (paraphrase)
“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”
wisdomattributed; paraphrase of Apology
“Wisdom is the only thing whose value increases the more it is shared.”
wisdomattributed (no firm source)
“The mind is everything; what you think you become.”
mindattributed; commonly cited as Buddha or Socratic
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”
contentmentDiogenes Laertius (citing Socrates)
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
kindnessattributed; commonly cited as Plato or Socrates
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
happinessattributed (no firm source)
“Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.”
worthDiogenes Laertius (citing Socrates)
“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.”
deathPlato's Apology
“By far the greatest evil one can do is to act unjustly.”
evilPlato's Gorgias
“It is better to suffer injustice than to commit it.”
injusticePlato's Gorgias
“For the one who suffers injustice has only the harm. The one who commits injustice has the moral wound.”
injusticePlato's Gorgias (paraphrase)
“And the moral wound is the worst of harms.”
moral-woundPlato's Gorgias
“This is the deepest teaching of philosophy.”
philosophyPlato's Gorgias (paraphrase)
“Virtue is one and entire — wisdom, justice, courage, temperance, and piety are not different things.”
virtuePlato's Protagoras
“They are different aspects of the same thing.”
virtuePlato's Protagoras
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