Quotes from Socrates

May I consider the wise man rich, and may I have such wealth as only the self-restrained man can bear or endure.

There is a doctrine whispered in secret that a man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run away; this is a great mystery which I do not quite understand.

Virtue does not come from wealth, but wealth, and every other good thing which men have comes from virtue.

What a lot of things there are a man can do without.

If thou continuous to take delight in idle argumentation thou mayest be qualified to combat with the sophists, but will never know how to live with men.

Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy.

No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. He and his are not neglected by the gods.

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

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.

An education obtained with money is worse than no education at all.

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.

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.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

Be as you wish to seem.

The cure of many diseases remains unknown to the physicians of Hellos (Greece) because they do not study the whole person.

Follow the argument wherever it leads.

If measure and symmetry are absent from any composition in any degree, ruin awaits both the ingredients and the composition... Measure and symmetry are beauty and virtue the world over.

Virtue is the beauty of the soul.

By means of beauty all beautiful things become beautiful.

Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.

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

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

It is better to make a mistake with full force of your being than to carefully avoid mistakes with a trembling spirit.

It is not difficult to avoid death. It is much more difficult to avoid wickedness, for it runs faster than death.