Socrates, Apology Quotes

A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time.

The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.

No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew it was the greatest of evils.

...[R]eal wisdom is the property of God, and... human wisdom has little or no value.

...[S]ome of the opinions which people entertain should be respected, and others should not.

I am convinced that I never wrong anyone intentionally...

...[M]en are put in a sort of guard-post, from which one must not release one's self or run away...

...[T]he really important thing is not to live, but to live well... [a]nd to live well means the same thing as to live honourably or rightly...

Do you imagine that a city can continue to exist and not be turned upside down, if the legal judgments which are pronounced in it have no force but are nullified and destroyed by private persons?

Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively.

...a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods.