Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greekphilosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is "hidden behind his 'best disciple', Plato"...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
wonder
Wisdom belongs in wonder.
lines next crooked
You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.
heart mind spirit
Anybody can be a hellene, by his heart, his mind, his spirit...
men might idle
I call that man idle who might be better employed.
ridiculous uncertain certainty
To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous.
jewels names advice
Regard your good name as the richest jewel yoou can possibly be possessed of.
knows wisest
Wisest is he who knows he knows not.
light darkness obscurity
Obscurity is dispelled by augmenting the light of discernment, not by attacking the darkness.
moving mean abiding
Those then who know not wisdom and virtue, and are always busy with gluttony and sensuality, go down and up again as far as the mean; and in this region they move at random throughout life, but they never pass into the true upper world; thither they neither look, nor do they ever find their way, neither are they truly filled with true being, nor do they ever taste of pure and abiding pleasure.
class cities purpose
Our purpose in founding the city was not to make any one class in it surpassingly happy, but to make the city as a whole as happyas possible.
philosophy love-you teaching
Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy.
ignorance firsts acquiring-knowledge
Admitting one's ignorance is the first step in acquiring knowledge ...
death running unrighteousness
The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.
men thinking greek-philosopher
No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest; yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government.