Socrates Quotes

This is...self-knowled ge-for a man to know what he knows, and what he does not know.

Every action has its pleasures and its price.

The first key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be.

Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing.

All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.

I pray Thee, O God, that I may be beautiful within.

It is best and easiest not to discredit others but to prepare oneself to be as good as possible.

The true Wisdom is in recognizing our own ignorance.

Obscurity is dispelled by augmenting the light of discernment, not by attacking the darkness.

Let us follow the truth whither so ever it leads.

The soul is cured of its maladies by certain incantations; these incantations are beautiful reasons, from which temperance is generated in souls.

The soul, like the body, accepts by practice whatever habit one wishes it to contact.

Fellow citizens, why do you burn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of your children to whom you must one day relinquish all?

You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.

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

All of the wisdom of this world is but a tiny raft upon which we must set sail when we leave this earth. If only there was a firmer foundation upon which to sail, perhaps some divine word.

The uninitiated are those who believe in nothing except what they can grasp in their hands, and who deny the existence of all that is invisible.

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

Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.

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

There is no illness of the body except for the mind

Wisdom is knowing what you don't know.

The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves.

Nobody knows anything, but I, knowing nothing, am the smartest man in the world.

The fewer our wants the more we resemble the Gods.

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.

Before the birth of Love, many fearful things took place through the empire of necessity; but when this god was born, all things rose to men.

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.

If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.

Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.

wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the individual and to the state

Fame is the perfume of heroic deeds.

Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.

If the whole world depends on today's youth, I can't see the world lasting another 100 years.

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.

Wisdom adorneth riches and casteth a shadow over poverty.

Be of good cheer about death and know this as a truth, that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death

A multitude of books distracts the mind.

Malice drinketh up the greater part of its own poison.

If you want to be a good saddler, saddle the worst horse; for if you can tame one, you can tame all.

This sense of wonder is the mark of the philosopher. Philosophy indeed has no other origin.

Be true to thine own self.

I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you.

Death offers mankind a full view of truth.

The reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service.

Follow the argument wherever it leads.

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

The beginning is the most important part, especially when dealing with anything young and tender.

The body cannot be cured without regard for the soul.