Welcome to our blog, where we delve into the profound depths of philosophical thought and timeless wisdom. Today, we embark on a journey through the words of one of history’s most influential philosophers : Plato. A student of Socrates and a teacher to Aristotle, Plato’s contributions to philosophy, politics, and ethics also continue to resonate through the ages. Plato quotes are a treasure trove of insights, capturing the essence of human nature, the pursuit of knowledge, and also the ideals of justice and virtue.
In this series, we will explore some of Plato’s most memorable and thought-provoking quotes. Unraveling their meanings and contemplating their relevance in our contemporary world. Whether you are a seasoned philosopher, a curious student, or someone seeking inspiration and guidance. These Plato quotes offer a wealth of wisdom to enrich your understanding and ignite your intellect.
Join us as we navigate through the timeless words of Plato. And discover how his teachings can illuminate our path in the modern age. From the allegory of the cave to the ideals of the philosopher-king, Plato’s quotes are more than just words; they are a beacon for those who seek truth and enlightenment in a complex world.
Stay tuned as we dive into the profound legacy of Plato, and let Plato quotes inspire and challenge us to think deeply about the world and our place in it.
From the Academy to the Ages : Plato Quotes on Knowledge, Life and Learning
“Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.”
“The virtuous man combines the highest, lowest and middle chords in complete harmony within himself.”
“There is no such thing as a lover’s oath.”
“Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.”
“Love is born into every human being; it calls back the halves of our original nature together; it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature.”
“Pleasure is the bait of sin.”
“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.”
“Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.”
“No wealth can ever make a bad man at peace with himself.”
“Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”
“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”
“Books are immortal sons defying their sires.”
Motivational Plato Quotes
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.”
“Ideas are the source of all things.”
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”
“Reality is created by the mind; we can change our reality by changing our mind.”
“When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income.”
“A house that has a library in it has a soul.”
“To be afraid of death is only another form of thinking that one is wise when one is not; it is to think that one knows what one does not know. No one knows with regard to death whether it is not really the greatest blessing that can happen to man; but people dread it as though they were certain it is the greatest evil.”
“All I really know is the extent of my own ignorance.”
“Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.”
“He who wishes to serve his country must have not only the power to think, but the will to act.”
“He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.”
“For as there are misanthropists, or haters of men, there are also misologists, or haters of ideas, and both spring from the same cause, which is ignorance of the world.”
“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
“Philosophy is the highest music.”
Famous Plato Quotes
“Human behavior flows from three main sources : Desire, Emotion, and Knowledge.”
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
“If it were necessary either to do wrong or to suffer it, I should choose to suffer rather than do it.”
“In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these means, man can attain perfection.”
“Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.”
“The first and best victory is to conquer self.”
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.”
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
“A library of wisdom, is more precious than all wealth, and all things that are desirable cannot be compared to it. Whoever therefore claims to be zealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom or knowledge, must become a lover of books.”
“Everything that deceives may be said to enchant.”
“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
“The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful.”
“I’m trying to think, don’t confuse me with facts.”
Famous Quotes Of Plato
“Love is a serious mental disease.”
“Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”
“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”
“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.”
“In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state.”
“There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.”
“Knowledge is the food of the soul.”
“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being.”
“No matter how hard you fight the darkness, every light casts a shadow, and the closer you get to the light, the darker that shadow becomes.”
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
“To the degree that I cease to pursue my deepest passions, I will gradually be controlled by my deepest fears.”
“No human thing is of serious importance.”
“Let the speaker speak truly and the judge decide justly.”
“The love of the gods belongs to anyone who has given to true virtue and nourished it, and if any human being could become immortal, it would be he.”
“Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.”
“If a man can be properly said to love something, it must be clear that he feels affection for it as a whole, and does not love part of it to the exclusion of the rest.”
Motivational Quotes Of Plato
“Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice.”
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”
“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”
“Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, and the amazement of the gods.”
“I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning.”
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity – I mean the true simplicity of a rightly and nobly ordered mind and character, not that other simplicity which is only a euphemism for folly.”
“The soul of man is immortal and imperishable.”
“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.”
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”
“Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.”
“All learning has an emotional base.”
“The madness of love is the greatest of heaven’s blessings.”
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.”
Plato Famous Quotes
“No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.”
“The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men.”
“A life without investigation is not worth living.”
“We do not learn, and that what we call learning is only a process of recollection.”
“Wealth is the parent of luxury and indolence, and poverty of meanness and viciousness, and both of discontent.”
“Nothing beautiful without struggle.”
“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.”
“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.”
“Never discourage anyone. Who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”
“Those who don’t know must learn from those who do.”
“Love is simply the name for the desire and pursuit of the whole.”
“The soul takes nothing with her to the next world but her education and her culture.”
“Writing is the geometry of the soul.”
“A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways – by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognise that the same thing happens to the soul.”
Plato Motivational Quotes
“Justice means minding your own business and not meddling with other men’s concerns.”
“Wonder is the only beginning of philosophy.”
“Man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door of his prison and run away. A man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him.”
“It’s better in fact to be guilty of manslaughter than of fraud about what is fair and just.”
“Time is the moving image of reality.”
“The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.”
“No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.”
“If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.”
“The soul of him who has education is whole and perfect and escapes the worst disease, but, if a man’s education be neglected, he walks lamely through life and returns good for nothing to the world below.”
“There is in every one of us, even those who seem to be most moderate, a type of desire that is terrible, wild, and lawless.”
“You should not honor men more than truth.”
“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”
Best Plato Quotes
“Ignorance, the root and stem of every evil.”
“The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.”
“When we are ill we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one.”
“Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught falsehoods in school. And the person that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool.”
“Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
“Love is a madness produced by an unsatisfiable rational desire to understand the ultimate truth about the world.”
“Man is a being in search of meaning.”
“Let parents then bequeath to their children not riches but the spirit of reverence.”
“For this feeling of wonder shows that you are a philosopher, since wonder is the only beginning of philosophy.”
“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”
“Only a philosopher’s mind grows wings, since its memory always keeps it as close as possible to those realities by being close to which the gods are divine.”
“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they can not.”
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.”
Final Thoughts
As we draw our exploration of Plato quotes to a close, it’s evident that the philosophical insights of this ancient thinker continue to resonate powerfully in our modern world. Plato’s reflections on knowledge, love, politics, and also the essence of humanity offer timeless wisdom that transcends the boundaries of time and space. His words challenge us to think deeply, to question the status quo, and to strive for a life of virtue and understanding.
Plato quotes on the nature of reality and the pursuit of truth remind us of the importance of intellectual curiosity and the continuous quest for knowledge. In a world often dominated by fleeting trends and superficial values. Plato’s emphasis on the deeper, more enduring aspects of life provides a refreshing and necessary perspective.
As we navigate the complexities of contemporary life, let us carry with us the insights gleaned from Plato quotes. May they inspire us to live more thoughtfully, to engage with our world more meaningfully, and to cultivate the wisdom that leads to a truly fulfilling life. In embracing the philosophical spirit of Plato, we not only honor the legacy of one of history’s greatest minds but also enrich our own journeys toward truth and enlightenment.
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