Plato quotes

Science is nothing but perception.

We are twice armed if we fight with faith.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.

We do not learn; and what we call learning is only a process of recollection.

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.

For the introduction of a new kind of music must be shunned as imperiling the whole state; since styles of music are never disturbed without affecting the most important political institutions.

For good nurture and education implant good constitutions.

Courage is knowing what not to fear.

The god of love lives in a state of need. It is a need. It is an urge. It is a homeostatic imbalance. Like hunger and thirst, it's almost impossible to stamp out.

He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.

We are twice armed if we fight with faith.

Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.

The blame is his who chooses: God is blameless.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.

Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all; too much cleverness and too much learning, accompanied with ill bringing-up, are far more fatal.

Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all; too much cleverness and too much learning, accompanied with ill bringing-up, are far more fatal.

There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.

Ignorance of all things is an evil neither terrible nor excessive, nor yet the greatest of all; but great cleverness and much learning, if they be accompanied by a bad training, are a much greater misfortune.

And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.

Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.

Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.

Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns.

Wisdom alone is the science of other sciences.

The rulers of the state are the only persons who ought to have the privilege of lying, either at home or abroad; they may be allowed to lie for the good of the state.

Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.

To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less.

There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.

All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince.

No one is a friend to his friend who does not love in return.

All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince.

Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.

Wisdom alone is the science of other sciences.

Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

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.

There's a victory, and defeat; the first and best of victories, the lowest and worst of defeats which each man gains or sustains at the hands not of another, but of himself.

No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.

Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.

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.

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.

Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man.

He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.

One man cannot practice many arts with success.

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.

They certainly give very strange names to diseases.

There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.

Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.

The most important part of education is proper training in the nursery.

Death is not the worst that can happen to men.

The rulers of the state are the only persons who ought to have the privilege of lying, either at home or abroad; they may be allowed to lie for the good of the state.

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.

No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.

Courage is a kind of salvation.

The good is the beautiful.

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.

The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.

Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns.

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.

Knowledge is true opinion.

The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.

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.

A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.

When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.

Ignorance of all things is an evil neither terrible nor excessive, nor yet the greatest of all; but great cleverness and much learning, if they be accompanied by a bad training, are a much greater misfortune.

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

Love is a serious mental disease.

Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance.

Nothing can be more absurd than the practice that prevails in our country of men and women not following the same pursuits with all their strengths and with one mind, for thus, the state instead of being whole is reduced to half.

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.

Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.

To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less.

All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince.

Then not only custom, but also nature affirms that to do is more disgraceful than to suffer injustice, and that justice is equality.

No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.

Courage is knowing what not to fear.

The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant.

Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.

Wisdom alone is the science of other sciences.

Cunning... is but the low mimic of wisdom.

The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant.

Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

Whatever deceives men seems to produce a magical enchantment.

Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.

Democracy passes into despotism.

Philosophy is the highest music.

Death is not the worst that can happen to men.

Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.

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.

Nothing can be more absurd than the practice that prevails in our country of men and women not following the same pursuits with all their strengths and with one mind, for thus, the state instead of being whole is reduced to half.

It is right to give every man his due.

No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.

I would fain grow old learning many things.

A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.

There is no harm in repeating a good thing.

Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.

Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.

Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.

He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.

If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.

There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.

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.

Life must be lived as play.

And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.

The god of love lives in a state of need. It is a need. It is an urge. It is a homeostatic imbalance. Like hunger and thirst, it's almost impossible to stamp out.

Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.

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.

Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.