Socrates Quotes

Know thyself.

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

Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind.

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents gobble their food and tyrannize their te...

We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.

Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.

If a man would move the world he must first move himself.

God would seem to indicate to us and not allow us to doubt that these beautiful poems are not human,...

Wisdom is knowing you know nothing

All I know is that I do not know anything

Be as you wish to seem.

I am a citizen not of Athens or Greece but of the world.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or...

There is one way, then, in which a man can be free from all anxiety about the fate of his soul - if ...

Wisdom begins in wonder.

The greatest blessing granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift.

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.

Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.

If the soul is immortal, it demands our care not only for that part of time which we call life, but ...

If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most...

Be true to thine own self

If a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the Muses, believing that technique...

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

One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by ...

How many things there are which I do not want.

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

I only know that I know nothing

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

As for me all I know is that I know nothing.

Our prayers should be for blessings in general for God knows best what is good for us.

Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing.

Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philo...

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

Intelligent individuals learn from every thing and every one; average people, from their experiences...

One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injust...

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and ...

wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the ind...

One day, the old wise Socrates walks down the streets, when all of the sudden a man runs up to him "...

To do is to be.

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of ...

Such as thy words are such will thine affections be esteemed and such as thine affections will be th...

...I do not believe that the law of God permits a better man to be harmed by a worse. No doubt my ac...

The only thing I know is that I know nothing, and i am no quite sure that i know that.

Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.

Is it true; is it kind, or is it necessary?

To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.

The greatest way to live with honour in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

How many things can I do without?

Where there is reverence there is fear, but there is not reverence everywhere that there is fear, be...

My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to car...

I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.

I examined the poets, and I look on them as people whose talent overawes both themselves and others,...

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct ...

The unexamined life is not worth living.

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

If I save my insight, I don’t attend to weakness of eyesight.

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.

The misuse of language induces evil in the soul

Do not trouble about those who practice philosophy, whether they are good or bad; but examine the th...

Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously to answer wisely to consider soberly and to de...

By far the greatest and most admirable form of wisdom is that needed to plan and beautify cities and...

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.

To find yourself, think for yourself.

An honest man is always a child.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.

No man undertakes a trade he has not learned even the meanest yet every one thinks himself suffici...

Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love.

Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of -- for credit is like fi...

Let him who would move the world first move himself.

He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.

The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect fo...

Be of good cheer about death, and know this of a truth, that no evil can happen to a good man, eithe...

To find the Father of all is hard. And when found, it is impossible to utter Him.

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what o...

The poets are only the interpreters of the gods.

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

A man who preserves his integrity no real, long-lasting harm can ever come.

My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a ph...

If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion mos...

Be slow to fall into friendship but when thou art in continue firm and constant.

Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.

Nobody is qualified to become a statesman who is entirely ignorant of the problems of wheat.

He is not only idle who does nothing but he is idle who might be better employed.

Are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you ne...

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become...

When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think

.. is there not one true coin for which all things ought to exchange?- and that is wisdom; and only ...

The fewer our wants the nearer we resemble the gods.

What most counts is not to live but to live aright.

Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.

For the poet is a light and winged and holy thing, and there is no invention in him until he has bee...

If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion most peo...

Be slow to fall into friendship but when thou art in continue firm and constant.

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what...

I know one thing, that I know nothing.