Socrates quotes and teachings have inspired people for centuries. His life was dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom, and he was always willing to question everything he heard. Despite his many accomplishments, Socrates was ultimately put to death for his beliefs.
His story is a reminder that it is always important to stand up for what you believe in, even if it means facing opposition.
PAGE CONTENT:
- Socrates Short Biography
- The Legacy of Socrates
- 70 Socrates Quotes
Who was Socrates?
Born in 470 BC in Athens, Greece, Socrates was a philosopher whose teachings have influenced Western thought for centuries.
He was a student of Anaxagoras and is considered the founder of the Socratic Method, which is still studied and used in law and philosophy today.
Socrates was tried and condemned to death by Athenian authorities in 399 BC for “corrupting the youth” and “impiety”. He drank hemlock and died at the age of 70.
He is best known for his conversations with his students, which were recorded and published after his death. He is also known for his belief in the importance of questioning everything.
Socrates was considered to be one of the most intelligent people of his time, and he was known for his ability to ask deep and insightful questions. Socrates believed that the key to wisdom was questioning everything and exploring all possible options.
He believed that it was important to always be willing to learn and to never stop seeking knowledge. Socrates’ insights continue to be studied and admired to this day.
Socrates’ legacy has been debated for centuries. Some people view him as a great philosopher and thinker, while others see him as a troublemaker who got what he deserved. Regardless of your opinion, Socrates was a very influential figure in Western philosophy. Many of his ideas and concepts are still discussed and debated today.
70 Socrates Quotes
- “Know thyself.”
2. “To be is to do”
3. “Be true to thine own self”
4. “The mind is everything; what you think you become”
5. “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
6. “Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.”
7. “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”
6. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
7. “To find yourself, think for yourself.”
8. “By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”
9. “We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.”
10. “To move the world we must move ourselves.”
11. “Wisdom begins in wonder.”
12. “Envy is the ulcer of the soul.” – Socrates Quote
13. “Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.”
14. “When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it.”
15. “The more I know, the more I realize I know nothing.”
16. “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”
17. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
18. “I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others.”
19. “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”
20. “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
21. “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think”
22. “To find yourself, think for yourself.”
23. “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
24. “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
25. “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”
26. “If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”
27. “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
28. “Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.” – Socrates
29. “Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire; the other is to get it.”
30. “He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.”
31. “Let him who would move the world first move himself.”
32. “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
33. “My friend…care for your psyche…know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves”
34. “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”
35. “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.”
36. “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”
37. “The hottest love has the coldest end.”
38. “Those who are hardest to love need it the most.”
39. “Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they’re fools, and fools who think they are wise.”
40. “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”
41. “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”
42. “Every action has its pleasures and its price.”
43. “Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.”
44. “understanding a question is half an answer” – More Socrates Quotes Below
45. “The greatest way to live with honour in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
46. “From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.”
47. “It is better to change an opinion than to persist in a wrong one.”
48. “The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves. ”
49. “In all of us, even in good men, there is a lawless wild-beast nature, which peers out in sleep.”
50. “Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.”
51. “Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued. ”
52. “An unconsidered life is not one worth living.”
53. “As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.”
54. “All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.”
55. “The highest realms of thought are impossible to reach without first attaining an understanding of compassion.”
56. “I do believe that there are gods, and in a far higher sense than that in which any of my accusers believe in them.”
57. “Virtue does not come from wealth, but. . . wealth, and every other good thing which men have. . . comes from virtue.”
58. “Are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul?”
59. “He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.”
60. “Intelligent individuals learn from every thing and every one; average people, from their experiences. The stupid already have all the answers.”
61. “Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively.”
62. “There is no greater evil one can suffer than to hate reasonable discourse.”
63. “To express oneself badly is not only faulty as far as the language goes, but does some harm to the soul.”
64. “He is not only idle who does nothing, but he is idle who might be better employed.”
65. “One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing’.”
66. “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.”
67. “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.”
68. “The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
69. “From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.”
70. “Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love.”