Socrates

I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether.

Nothing is to be preferred before justice.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

I must first know myself, as the Delphian inscription says; to be curious about that which is not my concern, while I am still in ignorance of my own self, would be ridiculous. And therefore I bid farewell to all this; the common opinion is enough for me. For, as I was saying, I want to know not about this, but about myself: am I a monster more complicated and swollen with passion than the serpent Typho, or a creature of a gentler and simpler sort, to whom Nature has given a diviner and lowlier destiny?

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

Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.

Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

Amuse not thy self therefore with the numerous Opinions of the World, nor value thy self upon verbal Orthodoxy, Philosophy, or thy Skill in Tongues, or Knowledge of the Fathers; (too much the Business and Vanity of the World). But in this rejoyce, That thou knowest God, that is the Lord, who exerciseth loving Kindness, and Judgment; and Righteousness in the Earth.

What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.

If you and I are having a single thought of violence or hatred against anyone in the world at this moment, we are contributing to the wounding of the world.

The only gift is a portion of thyself.

At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.

What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering.

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.

Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.

A picture is a poem without words.

The return of my birthday, if I remember it, fills me with thoughts which it seems to be the general care of humanity to escape.

Suspicions that the mind, of itself, gathers, are but buzzes; but suspicions that are artificially nourished and put into men’s heads by the tales and whisperings of others, have stings.

I was a freethinker before I knew how to think.

He that does good for good’s sake seeks neither paradise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end.