80 Phrases From Socrates To Understand His Thoughts
Socrates is considered the father of Western philosophy , although he did not worry too much about making future generations know about him. He left no known written work, and almost everything that is known about him is due to the writings of his disciple Plato.
The phrases of Socrates that you can read below capture the essence of his philosophy, very focused on morality and the method by which human beings can obtain knowledge.
Below you can see a selection of phrases from Socrates that can be very helpful in understanding why this philosopher’s thinking continues to influence us today.
For Socrates, honesty was closely related to the way in which children always ask themselves questions about what they know and are constantly open to the possibility of admitting that what they believed to be true is not.
2. Knowledge begins in wonder
The pang of feeling that there is a part of reality that we do not understand was, for Socrates, what drives us to acquire knowledge.
3. An unexamined life is not worth living
Philosophy was for Socrates one of the pillars of life experience, as expressed in this phrase.
4. Speak so that I can know you
Each person’s way of being, and the way they see the world, can be known through dialogue, a context in which two people relate and can ask each other questions.
5. The friend must be like money; Before needing it, you need to know its value
One of Socrates’ phrases about friendship with a more pragmatic meaning.
6. The only true knowledge is knowing that you know nothing
One of Socrates’ best-known phrases expresses the humility with which the philosopher faced his task and the radicality with which he understood that all aspects of reality must be questioned.
7. Not life, but the good life, is what should be valued most
Life must be valued qualitatively to be able to appreciate it well according to this Greek philosopher.
8. Mean souls can only be conquered by gifts.
Socrates speaks here about the interested and opportunistic spirits that guide certain relationships.
9. There is only one good: knowledge. There is only one evil, ignorance
Socrates related the obtaining of knowledge to morality, something his pupil Plato also did.
10. Fear the love of a woman more than the hatred of a man
The misogyny of the first Greek philosophers was practically a constant, although in its historical context it was widespread.
11. The highest degree of knowledge is to examine why
This type of question was the engine that allowed Socrates to investigate the great topics he proposed to study.
12. Beauty is an ephemeral tyranny
The beautiful causes expectations and passions that generate oppression and violence.
13. The greatest of all mysteries is man
Man’s very existence was so enigmatic that philosophers like Socrates were driven to ask ambitious questions.
14. It is worse to carry out an injustice than to commit it, since the person who commits it becomes unjust but the other does not.
For Socrates, The nature of each person is constituted by their actions, not by what they say Therefore, our actions serve to transform us.
15. Death could be the greatest of blessings
Even the usual conception of death can be revised philosophically, something that is captured in this phrase from Socrates.
16. Neither kings nor rulers carry the scepter, but those who know how to command
A formal title is no guarantee of power, according to Socrates.
17. An uninhibited man cannot generate affection, because he is difficult to deal with and closes the door to friendship.
For this philosopher, pursuing immediate pleasures and appreciating great passions makes us individualistic and distant.
18. We must not let the grass grow in the path of friendship
Cultivating friendships was something that, for Socrates, had to be addressed actively, without letting time pass and the relationship deteriorate.
19. Let whoever is going to move the world first move himself
A call not to listen to people who claim that they are going to promote great changes by encouraging others to begin this task.
20. A morality that is based on relative emotional values ​​is a mere illusion
Socrates was very opposed to the relativism of the sophists, and believed that morality should be based on rationally well-established principles
21. I wish that ordinary people had the unlimited power to do evil and then the unlimited power to do good
Since morality is trained through actions, being involved in situations with a marked positive or negative value would help establish solid ethical principles.
22. Only God is the ultimate wise man
One of Aristotle’s phrases about obtaining knowledge. Since human beings are always subject to the limited amount of time and space at their disposal, only someone belonging to the world of the divine can know everything.
23. I am a citizen not of Athens or Greece, but of the world
The desire to establish a universal morality and an always valid method of obtaining knowledge, as well as his rejection of relativism, made Aristotle a person whose living space was the entire world, and not just one region.
Everything we see in retrospect is linked to conventions and protocols that fix it to the historical context to which it belonged.
25. Anyone who holds a true opinion on a subject he does not understand is like a blind man on the right path.
Having reached a correct conclusion is no guarantee that the reasoning process was correct.
26. Poets do not create poetry through wisdom, but through a kind of inspiration that can be found in prophets or seers, since they can say many beautiful things without knowing what they mean.
Socrates emphasizes the need to create knowledge through reason without obeying aesthetic criteria.
27. To find yourself, think for yourself
A phrase from Socrates in favor of creating one’s own criteria through reflection.
28. When the debate has been lost, slander is the loser’s tool
Slandering the opponent only serves to express frustration, not to weaken the opponent.
29. Luxury is artificial poverty
For this philosopher, ostentation reveals a banal need to appear, which reveals a void.
30. I wish knowledge were the kind of thing that flows from the container that is full to those that remain empty
Socrates reflects on the social implications of the scarcity of knowledge.
31. The best sauce is hunger
This phrase from Socrates can be understood as a reflection on the role that the superficial plays when setting goals: absence is an engine that drives us towards action in a more direct way than additives.
32. Each action has its pleasures and its price
All actions have positive and negative nuances, and you have to know when they are appropriate through reflection.
33. Only knowledge that comes from within is true knowledge
Socrates believed that wisdom is born from the examination of truths that, properly examined, are self-evident, and therefore independent of what is known about what surrounds us. This idea greatly influenced Plato.
34. If I had dedicated myself to politics I would have died a long time ago
Socrates here ridicules the logic by which politics operates which the philosopher related to appearances and hidden interests.
35. Don’t do to others what would make you angry if others did it to you.
A phrase that is reminiscent of the moral system developed by Immanuel Kant centuries after the death of Socrates.
36. I prefer knowledge to wealth, since the first is perennial, while the second is expired
Obtaining knowledge is something that is marked in each person’s personality, for Socrates.
37. Saying that something is natural means that it can be applied to everything
The principle of what is natural is that it is valid in all contexts, according to the Greek philosopher.
38. Starting well is not little, but it is not much either.
Beginnings can be seen as significant progress, but in themselves they do not have much value if they are not followed by other actions.
39. The hottest love has the coldest ending
A reflection on those love relationships marked by passions.
40. From the deepest desires often arise the deadliest hatreds
Controlling passions and desires is a constant recommendation in Socrates’ phrases.
41. The richest is the one who is content with little
Humility was for Socrates another quality in which he could stand out or not, but which was always practical.
42. I would rather the crowds disagree with me than find myself out of harmony with myself
Honesty and honoring the truth were values ​​that Socrates believed to be essential.
43. Today’s children are tyrants: they contradict their parents, gobble their food and act like tyrants in front of their teachers.
A phrase that, despite being from Socrates, many people make their own today.
44. The noblest path is not to subjugate others, but to perfect oneself
Even when different ideas collide, the goal is not so much to win an argument as to improve through it.
45. Being is doing
An idea that has already resonated in other phrases of Socrates: you become something through practice and not preaching
46. ​​Keep a good spirit about death, and make this truth your own: that nothing bad can happen to a good man, neither in life nor after death.
The good comparable to knowledge was for Socrates an element of such importance that reaching it made what is perceived as bad dissipate.
47. Through your rags I see your vanity
A very powerful phrase through which Socrates talks about superficiality.
48. Those who are hardest to love are the ones who need it the most
A reflection on love and the way it affects certain personality types.
49. Is it not a shame for man that the same thing happens to him as to the most irrational animals?
The distinction between rational and irrational beings marked the thought of Socrates.
50. The misuse of language introduces evil into our soul
For Socrates, speaking properly and using appropriate terms was a requirement to access the truth.
51. Understanding yourself is the beginning of knowledge
The philosophical task begins with the examination of one’s own ideas.
52. Make the public and private facets of man one
One of Socrates’ phrases that reflect his appreciation for honesty.
53. It is better to change your mind than to stay wrong
A reflection on the need to get rid of what is false.
54. Poets are only the interpreters of God
As another phrase about poets reflects, for Socrates they did not have direct access to the truth.
55. Pride breeds the tyrant
For the philosopher, pride generates an accumulation of desires and intentions that has a detrimental impact on everyone.
56. I am well aware that I am not wise at all
Another of Socrates’ phrases that refer to the humility with which he faced his task as a philosopher.
57. Be kind to everyone, because each person fights some kind of battle
One of the moral reflections of this philosopher.
58. I will never fear or avoid something I don’t know
What is not well understood cannot generate fear, according to Socrates.
59. I call myself a peaceful warrior, because the battles we fight occur within
This reflection emphasizes the introspective nature of Socrates’ task
60. Excellence is a habit
For this thinker, you are what you do.
61. The passage of time wrinkles your skin, but the lack of enthusiasm wrinkles your soul
A distinction between the physical world and that of the soul.
62. To understand a question is to already have half an answer
A perspective according to which the truth is already intuited in the questions that lead to it.
63. All wars occur to accumulate wealth
Socrates’s was a dispassionate view of wars.
64. The greatest blessing given to humanity can come from the hand of madness
Curious way to understand the possibilities that an unconventional way of thinking brings with it.
65. The fact of not having great desires is something divine
Another of Socrates’ phrases about the asceticism with which he faced life
66. To find yourself, think for yourself
A simple aphorism about philosophy.
67. Lies are the biggest killers, because they kill the truth
The search for the true was one of the main life maxims of this philosopher.
68. Envy is the ulcer of the soul
Curious way to talk about envy in moral terms.
69. This is a universe that does not favor the timid
A reflection on the way in which Greek society valued this personality trait.
70. Nothing is learned as well as what is discovered
Another reflection about the learning process
71. In any direction you travel the soul, you will never stumble upon its limits
Socrates considered that the soul of any person was immense and infinite.
72. From the deepest desires, often come the deadliest hatreds
This Greek philosopher reflected throughout his life on man’s most important desires: love and language.
73. I can’t teach anyone anything. I can only make you think
His system of thought consisted of not teaching anyone anything but rather making others discover each piece of knowledge.
74. Starting well is not little, but it is not much either.
To get to the truth, starting from a good starting point is essential.
75. Do not do anything that is shameful, neither in the presence of anyone nor in secret. Let it be your first law… respect yourself
Socrates spread a series of codes of conduct that were very necessary in his time.
76. Love is not perfect
This famous thinker gave us several very interesting phrases about love and other feelings of great importance.
77. The real battles are fought inside
Socrates gave great importance to the battles and contradictions that a human being fights daily.
78. Weigh opinions, don’t count them
For this thinker there were opinions that were more important than others, of higher quality.
79. Understanding a question is a half-answer.
For him, understanding was essential to find the truth of things.
80. To tell the truth, little eloquence is enough.
According to this great genius of Western philosophy, the truth could be found by everyone, without the need for much prior training.
