Socrates
Classical Athenian philosopher, the figure whose life and death gave Western philosophy its founding myth — the gadfly of Athens, condemned to death in 399 BCE for 'corrupting the youth' and 'impiety,' who chose to drink hemlock rather than abandon the philosophical life. Born around 470 BCE, son of a stonemason and a midwife, Socrates served as a hoplite in the Peloponnesian War and then turned to the questioning of his fellow citizens in the Athenian agora — a practice that produced no writings of his own but that his student Plato preserved in the great early dialogues (Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Symposium, Meno, Theaetetus). Xenophon's Memorabilia and Aristophanes's Clouds offer alternative portraits. The Socratic method — relentless questioning that reveals the questioner does not know what he thought he knew — became the foundation of philosophical inquiry; the Socratic claim that 'the unexamined life is not worth living' became its motto. He died in 399 BCE in Athens, surrounded by his students.
quotes in library
Quotes by Socrates
115 quotes“Care of the soul is the most important task of human life.”
“Beside this, all other tasks are secondary.”
“Wealth, reputation, body — these are nothing without a well-ordered soul.”
“With a well-ordered soul, even poverty becomes wealth.”
“My friend, care for your soul.”
“This is the heart of my message to Athens.”
“And it would be the heart of my message to any city, in any age.”
“What men know is little. What they think they know is much. What they actually know is even less than the little.”
“This gap between thinking we know and actually knowing is the source of most human folly.”
“Close that gap, and folly diminishes.”
“You must endure all things for love of wisdom.”
“For wisdom is the lover. We are her seekers.”
“And in the end she gives herself only to the most patient.”
“Patience is the great virtue of the philosopher.”
“In Athens, I was the gadfly that woke the city up.”
“Without me, the city sleeps. Without questioning, the soul sleeps.”
“This is what philosophy is for: to wake the sleeping soul.”
“Athens condemned me for this. So be it. Other cities, in other ages, will not.”
“Truth survives the death of every Socrates.”
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