People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.
Socrates Quotations
We found 54 matching quotations.
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
He is richest who is content with the least.
The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.
Envy is the ulcer of the soul.
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
The shortest and surest way to live with honour in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find, that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice of them.
He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
To find yourself, think for yourself.
You are providing for your disciples a show of wisdom without the reality. For, acquiring by your means much information unaided by instruction, they will appear to possess much knowledge, while, in fact, they will, for the most part, know nothing at all; and, moreover, be disagreeable people to deal with, as having become wise in their own conceit, instead of truly wise.
The unexamined life is not worth living for man.
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.
Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing.
Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Virtue does not come from wealth, but. . . wealth, and every other good thing which men have. . . comes from virtue.
Be slow to fall into friendship but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.
I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.
I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether.
Wisdom begins in wonder.
If a rich man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.
And in knowing that you know nothing, that makes you the smartest of all.
When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser.
Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.
The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.
Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.
Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.
The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.
Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.
Of all possessions wisdom alone is immortal.
Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.
Remember what is unbecoming to do is also unbecoming to speak of.
He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.
When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire . . .
Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.
I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.
By all means marry if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.
Wind buffs up empty bladders; opinion, fools.
Thank not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions but those who kindly reprove thy faults.
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.
I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. (Plato's Apology)
There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
But already it is time to depart, for me to die, for you to go on living; which of us takes the better course, is concealed from anyone except God.
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
My advice to you is get married if you find a good wife youll be happy if not, youll become a philosopher.
Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to that truth.
Only the extremely ignorant or the extremely intelligent can resist change.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of - for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.
My belief is that to have no wants is divine.
Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love.