Socrates

Wisdom begins in wonder.

We are in fact convinced that if we are ever to have pure knowledge of anything, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things by themselves with the soul by itself. It seems, to judge from the argument, that the wisdom which we desire and upon which we profess to have set our hearts will be attainable only when we are dead and not in our lifetime.

Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.

Happiness is unrepentant pleasure.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom.

Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.

We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.

If thou rise with an Appetite, thou art sure never to sit down without one.

A am a great friend of public amusements, they keep people from vice.

If you believe in fate, believe in it, at least, for your good.

Truth arises more readily from error than from confusion.

The painters could be identified by dirty fingernails; the writers by conversation in labored monosyllables and aggressive vulgarities which disguised their minds.

We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents.

If man had created man, he would be ashamed of his performance.

Though I can make my extravaganzas appear credible, I cannot make the truth appear so.