Recognized as one of the founders of Western philosophy, Socrates never actually wrote any of his teachings – these were later scripted by his student and fellow philosopher, Plato. Known for his paradoxical wisdom and his insistence on challenging those in power in Athens, Socrates was tried and convicted of ‘corrupting the minds of the youths of Athens’, and also of impiety, and sentenced to death by poisoning.
Perhaps the greatest legacy left to us by Socrates is that of his method of debating or questioning, known as the Socratic Technique. Performed by breaking down each and every part of a belief until the truth is revealed, the Socratic Technique is very much in use today in the American legal system.
Deep and meaningful, Socrates quotes – like his techniques – provide food for thought. Designed to make you stop, think, and examine not only the world you live in but the way you think and perceive yourself, his words will give you an insight into life, love, death, and youth.
Socrates Quotes on Knowledge
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” – Socrates
“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” – Socrates
“To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.” – Socrates
“Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they’re fools, and fools who think they are wise.” – Socrates
“One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.” – Socrates
“The beginning of wisdom is a definition of terms.” – Socrates
“You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.” – Socrates
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” – Socrates
“Know Thyself.” – Socrates
“What I do not know, I do not think I know.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes on Change
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
“It is better to change an opinion than to persist in a wrong one.” – Socrates
“Only the extremely ignorant or the extremely intelligent can resist change.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes on Friendship
“Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love.” – Socrates
“There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend.” – Socrates
“Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes on Joy
“Enjoy yourself — it’s later than you think.” – Socrates
“Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.” – Socrates
“Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune.” – Socrates
“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes on Kindness
“Be nicer than necessary to everyone you meet. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle.” – Socrates
“Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.” – Socrates
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes About Life
“Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.” – Socrates
“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” – Socrates
“We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.” – Socrates
“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.” – Socrates
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” – Socrates
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes About Love
“The hottest love has the coldest end.” – Socrates
“From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.” – Socrates
Socrates Quotes on Everything Else
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” – Socrates
“Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.” – Socrates
“A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.” – Socrates
“We gain our first measure of intelligence when we first admit our own ignorance.” – Socrates
“If I save my insight, I don’t attend to weakness of eyesight.” – Socrates
“I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live.” – Socrates
“Justice. If only we knew what it was.” – Socrates
“People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.” – Socrates
“It is better to be at odds with the whole world than, being one, to be at odds with myself.” – Socrates
“Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.” – Socrates
“I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” – Socrates
“Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” – Socrates
“I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good.” – Socrates
“They are not only idle who do nothing, but they are idle also who might be better employed.” – Socrates
“To find yourself, think for yourself.” – Socrates
“Speak, so that I may see you.” – Socrates
“Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” – Socrates
“The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.” – Socrates
“Silence is a profound melody, for those who can hear it above all the noise.” – Socrates
“Understanding a question is half the answer.” – Socrates
“The triumph of my art is in thoroughly examining whether the thought which the mind of the young man brings forth is a false idol or a noble true birth.” – Socrates
“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.” – Socrates
“How many are the things I can do without!” – Socrates
“Let him that would move the world, first move himself.” – Socrates
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” – Socrates
“The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves.” – Socrates
“We can do nothing without the body, let us always take care that it is in the best condition to sustain us.” – Socrates
“Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.” – Socrates
“Be as you wish to seem.” – Socrates
“Nothing is to be preferred before justice.” – Socrates
“Remember what is unbecoming to do is also unbecoming to speak of.” – Socrates
“An education obtained with money is worse than no education at all.” – Socrates
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” – Socrates
“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” – Socrates
“The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbor.” – Socrates
“The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection.” – Socrates
“Envy is the ulcer of the soul.” – Socrates
“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” – Socrates
“The mind is everything; what you think you become” – Socrates
“In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.” – Socrates
“When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” – Socrates
“A multitude of books distracts the mind.” – Socrates
“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” – Socrates
“Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue-to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.” – Socrates
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