“Theaetetus , 161b”
#ancient
90 quotes
“ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ἐπίσταμαι πλέον πλὴν βραχέος, ὅσον λόγον παρ᾽ ἑτέρου σοφοῦ λαβεῖν καὶ ἀποδέξασθαι μετρίως. I myself know nothing, except just a little, enough to extract an argument from another man who is wise and to receive it fairly.”
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder. Theaetetus , 155d”
“Nothing is to be preferred before justice”
“Has a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any ancestor, and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of understanding? Crito”
“One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him. Plato, Crito 49c”
“Oh dear Pan and all the other gods of this place, grant that I may be beautiful inside. Let all my external possessions be in friendly harmony with what is within. May I consider the wise man rich. As for gold, let me have as much as a moderate man could bear and carry with him. Socrates' prayer, Phaedrus , 279”
“In every one of us there are two ruling and directing principles, whose guidance we follow wherever they may lead; the one being an innate desire of pleasure; the other, an acquired judgment which aspires after excellence. Phaedrus”
“It would be better for me... that multitudes of men should disagree with me rather than that I, being one, should be out of harmony with myself. Gorgias , 482c”
“I only wish that wisdom were the kind of thing that flowed ... from the vessel that was full to the one that was empty. Plato , Symposium , 175d”
“As quoted in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , "Pythagoras", Sect. 23”
“ἐν ὀργῇ μήτε τι λέγειν μήτε πράσσειν In anger we should refrain both from speech and action.”
“As quoted in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , "Pythagoras", Sect. 23, as translated in Dictionary of Quotations (1906) by Thomas Benfield Harbottle, p. 320”
“ἀλλήλοις θ᾽ ὁμιλεῖν, ὡς τοὺς μὲν φίλους ἐχθροὺς μὴ ποιῆσαι, τοὺς δ᾽ ἐχθροὺς φίλους ἐργάσασθαι. ἴδιόν τε μηδὲν ἡγεῖσθαι. We ought so to behave to one another as to avoid making enemies of our friends, and at the same time to make friends of our enemies.”
“As reported by Alexander Polyhistor , and Diogenes Laërtius in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , "Pythagoras", Sect. 30, in the translation of C. D. Yonge”
“Τὴν δ' ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴν διῃρῆσθαι τριχῆ, εἴς τε νοῦν καὶ φρένας καὶ θυμόν. νοῦν μὲν οὖν καὶ θυμὸν εἶναι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις, φρένας δὲ μόνον ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ. The soul of man is divided into three parts, intelligence , reason , and passion . Intelligence and passion are possessed by other animals, but reason by man alone.”
“Dear youths, I warn you cherish peace divine , And in your hearts lay deep these words of mine. As reported by Heraclides, son of Sarapion, and Diogenes Laërtius, in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , "Pythagoras", Sect. 7, in the translation of C. D. Yonge”
“By the air which I breathe, and by the water which I drink, I will not endure to be blamed on account of this discourse. As reported by Heraclides Ponticus ( c . 360 BC), and Diogenes Laërtius, in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , "Pythagoras", Sect. 6, in the translation of C. D. Yonge”
“I was at Euphorbus at the siege of Troy.”
“I was Euphorbus at the siege of Troy. As reported by Heraclides Ponticus ( c . 360 BC), and Diogenes Laërtius ( Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , "Pythagoras", Sect. 4), and quoted in Cosmic Optimism: A Study of the Interpretation of Evolution (1949) by Frederick William Conner”
“I do see one large and grievous kind of ignorance, separate from the rest, and as weighty as all the other parts put together. Thinking that one knows a thing when one does not know it. Through this, I believe, all the mistakes of the mind are caused in all of us. 229c”
“Neither perception nor true opinion, nor reason or explanation combined with true opinion could be knowledge… Then our art of midwifery declare to us that all the offspring that have been born are mere wind”
“Perception and knowledge could never be the same. 186e”
“They do not know the penalty of unrighteousness, which is the thing they most ought to know. For it is not what they think it is”
“It is impossible that evils should be done away with, for there must always be something opposed to the good; and they… must inevitably hover about mortal nature and this earth. Therefore we ought to try to escape from earth to the dwelling of the gods as quickly as we can; and to escape is to become like God, so far as this is possible… God is in no wise and in no manner unrighteous, but utterly and perfectly righteous, and there is nothing so like him as that one of us who in turn becomes most nearly perfect in righteousness. 176a”
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder. 155d, The Dialogues of Plato , Volume 3, 1871, p. 377”
“No man of sense can put himself and his soul under the control of names... You must consider courageously and thoroughly and not accept anything carelessly. 440c”
“If the very essence of knowledge changes, at the moment of the change to another essence of knowledge there would be no knowledge, and if it is always changing, there will always be no knowledge, and by this reasoning there will be neither anyone to know nor anything to be known. But if there is always that which knows and that which is known”
“of the soul , their notion being that the soul is buried in the present life ; and again, because by its means the soul gives any signs which it gives, it is for this reason also properly called”
“I shall assume that your silence gives consent . 435b”
“From Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius, Book IX, section 8”
“τὴν μεταβολὴν ὁδὸν ἄνω κάτω, τόν τε κόσμον γίνεσθαι κατ' αὐτήν. Change he called a pathway up and down, and this determines the birth of the world.”
“As quoted by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics , Book II”
“χαλεπώτερον ἡδονῇ μάχεσθαι ἢ θυμῷ It is harder to fight against pleasure than against anger.”
“As quoted in Plato, Cratylus , 402a”
“δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης. You could not step twice into the same river.”
“As quoted by Plato in Cratylus , 402a”
“πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει Everything changes and nothing stands still.”
“As quoted by Plato in Cratylus , 401d”
“τὰ ὄντα ἰέναι τε πάντα καὶ μένειν οὐδέν All entities move and nothing remains still.”
“Plato had defined Man as an animal, biped and featherless, and was applauded. Diogenes plucked a fowl and brought it into the lecture”
“He used to reason as follows: 'Everything belongs to the gods; the wise are friends of the gods; friends hold all things in common; ergo , everything belongs to the wise.' Diogenes Laërtius , vi. 37, as reported in Diogenes the Cynic: Sayings and Anecdotes as translated by Robin Hard ( Oxford : 2012), p. 13”
“A child has beaten me in plainness of living.”
“Come, see that you obey orders.”
“Nay, I defeat men, you defeat slaves .”
“Good men nowhere, but good boys at Sparta.”
“Strike, for you will find no wood hard enough to keep me away from you, so long as I think you've something to say.”
“If you are to be kept right , you must possess either good friends or red”
“Aristotle dines when it seems good to King Philip , but Diogenes when he himself pleases. Plutarch , On Exile , 12”
“Yes, stand a little out of my sunshine .”
“Good breeding in cattle depends on physical health, but in men on a well”
“Man is a universe in little [ Microcosm ]. Freeman (1948), p. 150”
“Coition is a slight attack of apoplexy. For man gushes forth from man, and is separated by being torn apart with a kind of blow. Freeman (1948), p. 150”
“Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions. Freeman (1948), p. 149”
“We know nothing accurately in reality, but [only] as it changes according to the bodily condition, and the constitution of those things that flow upon [the body] and impinge upon it. Freeman (1948), p. 142”
“By convention sweet is sweet, bitter is bitter, hot is hot, cold is cold, color is color; but in truth there are only atoms and the void. (trans. Durant 1939), Ch. XVI, §II, p. 353; citing C. Bakewell, Sourcebook in Ancient Philosophy , New York, 1909, "Fragment O" (Diels), p. 60”
“νόμωι (γάρ φησι) γλυκὺ καὶ νόμωι πικρόν, νόμωι θερμόν, νόμωι ψυχρόν, νόμωι χροιή, ἐτεῆι δὲ ἄτομα καὶ κενόν (Tetralogies of Thrasyllus, 9; Sext. Emp. adv. math. VII 135) Sweet exists by convention, bitter by convention, colour by convention; atoms and Void [alone] exist in reality. (trans. Freeman 1948), p. 92.”
“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.”
“The first principles of the universe are atoms and empty space; everything else is merely thought to exist.”
“δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι τάδε· ἀρχὰς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων ἀτόμους καὶ κενόν, τὰ δ'ἀλλα πάντα νενομίσθαι [δοξάζεσθαι]. ( Diogenes Laërtius , Democritus , Vol. IX, 44) Now his principal doctrines were these. That atoms and the vacuum were the beginning of the universe; and that everything else existed only in opinion.”
“巧言令色、鮮矣仁。 Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”
“The opening of the Analects and thus the first phrase of Chapter I after which the Chinese title of this book is named 學而.”
“學而時習之、不亦說乎。有朋自遠方來、不亦樂乎。人不知而不慍、不亦君子乎。 Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn't it also great when friends visit from distant places? If one remains not annoyed when he is not understood by people around him, isn't he a sage?”
“Western Civilisation in Relation to Protestant Mission Work”
“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large. Attributed to Confucius in Out of the Blue: Delight Comes Into Our Lives (1996) by Mark Victor Hansen, Barbara Nichols, and Patty Hansen, p. 93”
“It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them. Reportedly in: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Mistrust, Conspiracy, and Lack of Internet Ethics (1980) Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety”
“It is not truth that makes man great, but man that makes truth great. As quoted in The Importance of Living (1937) by Lin Yutang , p. v”
“Man has three ways of acting wisely. First, on meditation; that is the noblest. Secondly, on imitation ; that is the easiest. Thirdly, on experience ; that is the bitterest. The Analects , as reported in Chambers Dictionary of Quotations (1997), p. 279”
“Men do not stumble over mountains , but over molehills Reported in United States Congress House Committee on Agriculture (1973) Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety”
“He that in his studies wholly applies himself to labour and exercise, and neglects meditation, loses his time, and he that only applies himself to meditation, and neglects labour and exercise, only wanders and loses himself. The Morals of Confucius , 2nd edition (London, 1724), Maxim X, p. 114”
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. As quoted in Wisconsin Congregational Church Life , Vol. 69”
“A grateful mind is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the other virtues. As quoted in Great Thoughts from Latin Authors (1884), by Craufurd Tait Ramage, p. 32”
“Etenim, iudices, cum omnibus virtutibus me adfectum esse cupio, tum nihil est quod malim quam me et esse gratum et videri. Haec enim est una virtus non solum maxima sed etiam mater virtutum omnium reliquarum. In truth, O judges, while I wish to be adorned with every virtue, yet there is nothing which I can esteem more highly than being and appearing grateful. For this one virtue is not only the greatest, but is also the parent of all the other virtues. Pro Plancio”
“Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit. Almost no one dances sober, unless he is insane. Pro Murena”
“Quidem concessum est rhetoribus ementiri in historiis ut aliquid dicere possint argutius. Indeed rhetoricians are permitted to lie about historical matters so they can speak more subtly. Brutus , 42”
“since our leading men think themselves in a seventh heaven, if there are bearded mullets in their fish”
“They are such fools that they seem to expect that, though the Republic is lost, their fish”
“Equidem ad pacem hortari non desino; quae vel iniusta utilior est quam iustissimum bellum cum civibus. As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars. Epistulae ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus) Book VII, Letter 14, section 3; as translated by E.O. Winstedt in the Loeb Classical Library”
“On Duties (De Officiis) 1.33”
“We should never take pleasure in causing pain to others, even to those who have wronged us, but rather strive to do good to all.”
“But it is better to assume principles less in number and finite, as Empedocles makes them to be. All philosophers... make principles to be contraries... (for Parmenides makes principles to be hot and cold, and these he demominates fire and earth) as those who introduce as principles the rare and the dense. But Democritus makes the principles to be the solid and the void; of which the former, he says, has the relation of being, and the latter of non”
“The science which has to do with nature clearly concerns itself for the most part with bodies and magnitudes and their properties and movements, but also with the principles of this sort of substance, as many as they may be. On the Heavens Book I, pg. 1”
“Richard McKeon (tr.) (1963), p. 150”
“Also known as Occam's razor or the principle of parsimony / economy”
“We may assume the superiority ceteris paribus [all things being equal] of the demonstration which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses”
“Knowledge of the fact differs from knowledge of the reason for the fact. I.13 , 78a.22”
“Of things said without any combination, each signifies either substance or quantity or qualification or a relative or where or when or being”
“Nature does not do anything in vain .”
“My lectures are published and not published; they will be intelligible to those who heard them, and to none beside. Letter to Alexander the Great as quoted by William Whewell , History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), Ch. 2, Sect. 2”
“Philosophy is the science of truth.”