Socrates on the Greatness of Human Thought
The great philosopher Socrates is counted among the founders of Western Philosophy. Showing the way to the truth, he said that "Every human being should think that man is a great creature by getting out of the narrow-mindedness, traditionalism, orthodoxy and blind beliefs of the society." Whether a poet or a labourer, a politician or a businessman, he should think that the speaker does not become great by virtue of wealth, power, strength and achievements.
Who was Socrates?
Before knowing about Socrates quotes it is very important for you to know about Socrates. Socrates was a great thinker and philosopher of Greece. He was the pioneer of logic. In true sense he was a great politician. He was born in Athens in 470 BC. In 399 BC he was given death sentence and bid final farewell to the world. Plato was a disciple of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. These three philosophers together prepared the philosophical basis of Western culture. Let us see some of his precious thoughts.
Top 70 Socrates Quotes
1. “To find yourself, think for yourself.” ― Socrates
2. “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” ― Socrates
3. “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” ― Socrates
4. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ― Socrates
5. “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” ― Socrates
6. “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” ― Socrates
7. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” ― Socrates
8. “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” ― Socrates
9. “The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves.” ― Socrates
10. “Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.” ― Socrates
11. “Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” ― Socrates
12. “There is no learning without remembering.” ― Socrates
13. “Silence is a profound melody, for those who can hear it above all the noise.” ― Socrates
14. “Why should we pay so much attention to what the majority thinks? ― Socrates
15. “Every action has its pleasures and its price.” ― Socrates
16. “Only the knowledge that comes from inside is the real Knowledge.” ― Socrates
17. “Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.” ― Socrates
18. “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” ― Socrates
19. “Do not grieve over someone who changes all of the sudden. It might be that he has given up acting and returned to his true self.” ― Socrates
20. “Wisest is he who knows he knows not.” ― Socrates
21. “The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection.” ― Socrates
22. “Death offers mankind a full view of truth.” ― Socrates
23. “He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy. ― Socrates
24. “The really important thing is not to live, but to live well. And to live well meant, along with more enjoyable things in life, to live according to your principles.” ― Socrates
25. “The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.” ― Socrates
26. “If one knows what is right, he will do it; nobody wants to be evil.” ― Socrates
27. “The more I learn, the less I realize I know.” ― Socrates
28. “Nobody knows anything, but I, knowing nothing, am the smartest man in the world.” ― Socrates
29. “Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove thy faults.” ― Socrates
30. “Obscurity is dispelled by augmenting the light of discernment, not by attacking the darkness.” ― Socrates
31. “The life of which meaning one never ponders is not worth living.” ― Socrates
32. “The greater the power that deigns to serve you, the more honor it demands of you.” ― Socrates
33. “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?” ― Socrates
34. “Are not all things which have opposites generated out of their opposites?” ― Socrates
35. “Understanding a question is half an answer.” ― Socrates
36. “Our purpose in founding the city was not to make any one class in it surpassingly happy, but to make the city as a whole as happyas possible.” ― Socrates
37. “Falling down is not a failure. Failure comes when you stay where you have fallen.” ― Socrates
38. “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” ― Socrates
39. “In every person there is a sun. Just let them shine.” ― Socrates
40. “Pride divides the men, humility joins them.” ― Socrates
41. “I am a fool, but I know I’m a fool and that makes me smarter than you.” ― Socrates
42. “Talk in order that I may see you.” ― Socrates
43. “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.” ― Socrates
44. “Do it because it’s in your heart. Not because you want something in return. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.” ― Socrates
45. “He is the richest who is content with the least.” ― Socrates
46. “Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially.” ― Socrates
47. “The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” ― Socrates
48. “It is not living that matters, but living rightly.” ― Socrates
49. “From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.” ― Socrates
50. “I am a citizen, not of Athens, or Greece, but of the world.” ― Socrates
51. “You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.” ― Socrates
52. “Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” ― Socrates
53. “Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.” ― Socrates
54. “There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend.” ― Socrates
55. “Virtue does not come from wealth, but wealth, and every other good thing which men have comes from virtue.” ― Socrates
56. “The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.” ― Socrates
57. “The wise man seeks death all his life, and for this reason death is not terrifying to him.” ― Socrates
58. “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.” ― Socrates
59. “I don’t care what people say about me. I do care about my mistakes.” ― Socrates
60. “Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune.” ― Socrates
61. “Those who want the fewest things are nearest to the gods.” ― Socrates
62. “To harm another is to harm oneself.” ― Socrates
63. “May the outward and inward man be at one.” ― Socrates
64. “In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.” ― Socrates
65. “A free soul ought not to pursue any study slavishly, for nothing that is learned under compulsion stays with the mind.” ― Socrates
66. “If he who does not know kept silent, discord would cease.” ― Socrates
67. “How can you call a man free when his pleasures rule over him.” ― Socrates
68. “Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.” ― Socrates
69. “It is possible that a man could live twice as long if he didn’t spend the first half of his life acquiring habits that shortens the other half.” ― Socrates
70. “In every sort of danger there are various ways of winning through, if one is ready to do and say anything whatever.” ― Socrates
