"He who is only an athlete is..." - Quote by Plato
He who is only an athlete is too crude, too vulgar, too much a savage. He who is a scholar only is too soft, to effeminate. The ideal citizen is the scholar athlete, the man of thought and the man of action.
More by Plato
“The highest form of pure thought is in mathematics.”
“A wise ignorance is an essential part of knowledge.”
“And so, when a person meets the half that is his very own, whatever his orientation, whether it's to young men or not, then something wonderful happens: the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one another, and by desire, and they don't want to be separated from one another, not even for a moment.”
More on Balance
“Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.”
“Make yourself a priority. Fill yourself up so that you can give more to others.”
“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.”
More on Ideal
“She was everything I wanted. She was beautiful and charming, with a quick sense of humor, and she supported me in everything I did.”
“A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice.”
“Let the country be small, and the inhabitants few.”