Socrates Quotes

“Awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom.”

“Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.”

“Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially.”

“Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove thy faults.”

“I don't care what people say about me. I do care about my mistakes.”

“Do it because it's in your heart. Not because you want something in return. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.”

“True wisdom lies in one's confession about the limits of one's knowledge.”

“Though flattery blossoms like friendship, yet there is a vast difference in the fruit.”

“...in the acquisition of this blessing human nature can find no better helper than Love. I declare that it is the duty of every man to honour Love, and I honour and practice the mysteries of Love in an especial degree myself, and recommend the same to others, and I praise the power and valour of Love to the best of my ability both now and always.”

“A multitude of books distracts the mind.”

“It is the greatest good for an individual to discuss virtue (aka areté) every day...for the unexamined life is not worth living.”

“The individual leads in order that those who are led can develop their potential as human beings and thereby prosper.”

“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.”

“Young people nowadays love luxury; they have bad manners and contempt for authority. They show disrespect for old people... contradict their parents, talk constantly in front of company, gobble their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

“Go wherever the facts lead.”

“The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.”

“There's no good answer to a question you didn't hear”

“All I know is that I do not know anything”

“The understanding of mathematics is necessary for a sound grasp of ethics.”

“They are not only idle who do nothing, but they are idle also who might be better employed.”

“She soars on her own wings.”

“It is possible that a man could live twice as long if he didn't spend the first half of his life acquiring habits that shortens the other half”

“I will not yield to any man contrary to what is right, for fear of death, even if I should die at once for not yielding.”

“Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.”

“There is no greater magnificence than to defeat oneself. That is the magnificence.”