Socrates Quotes

“I believe that we cannot live better than in seeking to become better, nor more agreeably than having a clear conscience.”

“Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.”

“Whatever authority I may have rests solely on knowing how little I know.”

“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

“Fame is the perfume of heroic deeds.”

“One thing I know, that I know nothing. This is the source of my wisdom.”

“How can you wonder your travels do you no good, when you carry yourself around with you?”

“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?”

“He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.”

“Knowledge is our ultimate good.”

“Improve yourself by other men's writings thus attaining effortlessly what they acquired through great difficulty.”

“The tongue of a fool is the key of his counsel, which, in a wise man, wisdom hath in keeping.”

“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.”

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”

“The greatest flood has the soonest ebb; the sorest tempest the most sudden calm; the hottest love the coldest end; and from the deepest desire oftentimes ensues the deadliest hate.”

“Get married, in any case. If you happen to get a good mate, you will be happy; if a bad one, you will become philosophical, which is a fine thing in itself.”

“This is a universe that does not favor the timid.”

“I am a Citizen of the World, and my Nationality is Goodwill.”

“I shall never fear or avoid things of which I do not know.”

“Let us follow the truth whither so ever it leads.”

“To move the world we must move ourselves.”

“Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”

“The wise man seeks death all his life, and for this reason death is not terrifying to him.”

“I am a fool, but I know I'm a fool and that makes me smarter than you.”

“How many things I can do without!”