Quotes from Plato

The same is true of patience or mental quickness. A brain like a sponge and an even temper are all very well in one who minds the proper use of such things; to anyone else, they may bring harm.

SOCRATES: But I think that finally he would be in the condition to look at the sun itself, not just at its reflection whether in water or wherever else it might appear, but at the sun itself, as it is in and of itself and in the place proper to it and to contemplate of what sort it is.

It isn't, I said. However, it is a fact that whether one falls into a little swimming pool or into the middle of the biggest sea, one nevertheless swims all the time. Most certainly. Then we too must swim and try to save ourselves from the argument, hoping that some dolphin might take us on his back or for some other unusual rescue.

longest of his works

a los dioses y nobles monarcas persuaden los dones

Sinceramente? Èpico.

The life which is not examined is not worth living.

For once touched by love, everyone becomes a poet

If then virtue is something in the soul, and necessarily good, it must be a matter of mindfulness. For all other qualities of soul are in themselves neither good nor harmful. As accompanied by forethought or thoughtlessness, they become good or harmful. This argument shows that virtue, being good, must be a kind of mindfulness.

but I would contend at all costs in both word and deed as far as I could that we will be better men, braver and less idle, if we believe that one must search for the things one does not [c] know, rather than if we believe that it is not possible to find out what we do not know and that we must not look for it.

There is the explanation that is put in the language of the mysteries, that we men are in a kind of prison, and that one must not free oneself or run away. That seems to me an impressive doctrine and one not easy to understand fully. However, Cebes, this seems to me well expressed, that the gods are our guardians and that men are one of their possessions. Or do you not think so? I do, said Cebes.

philosophical

Son, pues, estos dos principios los que, en mi opi­nión, podríamos considerar como causas de que la divi­nidad haya otorgado a los hombres otras dos artes, la música y la gimnástica, no para el alma y el cuerpo, ex­cepto de una manera secundaria, sino para la fogosidad y filosofía respectivamente, con el fin de que estos princi­pios lleguen, mediante tensiones o relajaciones, al punto necesario de mutua armonía.

Pues nadie conoce la muerte, ni siquiera si es, precisamente, el mayor de todos los bienes para el hombre, pero la temen como si supieran con certeza que es el mayor de los males.

la melo­día se compone de tres elementos, que son letra, armonía y ritmo.

Por consiguiente, el que mejor sepa combinar gim­nástica y música y aplicarlas a su alma con arreglo a la más justa proporción, ése será el hombre a quien poda­mos considerar como el más perfecto y armonioso músico con mucha más razón que a quien no hace otra cosa que armonizar entre sí las cuerdas de un instru­mento.

En efecto, atenienses, temer la muerte no es otra cosa que creer ser sabio sin serlo, pues es creer que uno sabe lo que no sabe. Pues nadie conoce la muerte, ni siquiera si es, precisamente, el mayor de todos los bienes para el hombre, pero la temen como si supieran con certeza que es el mayor de los males.

But which stories do you mean, he said; and what fault do you find with them? A fault which is most serious, I said; the fault of telling a lie, and, what is more, a bad lie. But when is this fault committed? Whenever an erroneous representation is made of the nature of gods and heroes,—as when a painter paints a portrait not having the shadow of a likeness to the original. Yes

La mayoría de la gente no se ha dado cuenta de que no sabe lo que son realmente las cosas. Sin embargo, y como si lo supieran, no se ponen de acuerdo en los comienzos de su investigación, sino que, siguiendo adelante, lo natural es que paguen su error al no haber alcanzado esa concordia, ni entre ellos mismos, ni con los otros.

La mayor ventaja del Amor es que no puede recibir ninguna ofensa de parte de los hombres o de los dioses, y que ni dioses ni hombres pueden ser ofendidos por él, porque si sufre o hace sufrir es sin coacción, siendo la violencia incompatible con el amor.

SOCRATES: This, in turn, is to be able to cut up each kind according to its species along its natural joints, and to try not to splinter any part, as a bad butcher might do. In just this way, our two speeches placed all [266] mental derangements into one common kind.

Sólo de libre voluntad se somete uno al Amor

Not by the Platonic device of uniting the strong and fair with the strong and fair, regardless of sentiment and morality, nor yet by his other device of combining dissimilar natures (Statesman), have mankind gradually passed from the brutality and licentiousness of primitive marriage to marriage Christian and civilized. Few

Philosophy begins in wonder. -Plato