Ancient Greece was a fruitful period in every imaginable arts and scientific discipline A time of splendor for Athens on a political level, it marked a before and after in the development of Western civilization.
During this time, countless thinkers emerged in different sciences who, thanks to their efforts, generated significant cultural advances.
Phrases from Greek Philosophers and famous quotes
To review all this knowledge that Ancient Greece left us, in this article We are going to compile a large number of famous quotes and phrases from Greek Philosophers who left an incomparable legacy.
Of course there are many more reflections that had to be left out of this selection, but if you think there is a phrase that should be on the list, please add it in the comments section.
1. Advice is that you get married: if you find a good wife you will be happy, if not, you will become a philosopher. (Socrates)
For Socrates, there was little other option.
2. Don’t let the grass grow in the way of friendship. (Socrates)
A true friendship must be nurtured frequently.
3. Kings or rulers are not those who carry a scepter, but those who know how to command. (Socrates)
Authority emanates from power, and not the other way around.
4. Fear the love of a woman more than the hatred of a man. (Socrates)
There is nothing more stark than a woman in love.
5. There is no pain like a long life. (Sophocles)
Boredom and tedium are real poisons.
6. Who is born mortal, walks towards death. (Ephesus)
Inexcusably, it is so.
7. Nobody is happy throughout their life. (Euripides)
We all have ups and downs, it is completely normal.
8. It is worse to commit an injustice than to suffer it because whoever commits it becomes unjust and whoever suffers it does not. (Socrates)
One of those philosophical phrases that leave you thinking.
9. Human science consists more in destroying errors than in discovering truths. (Socrates)
On the path of science.
10. The best sauce is hunger. (Socrates)
When there is a need, anything that covers it is welcome.
11. Good and beautiful men are conquered with kindness. (Socrates)
A seduction tip from the great Socrates.
12. Only knowledge that comes from within is true knowledge. (Socrates)
Nothing that is not processed by our conscious mind has the attribute of truth.
13. Who will capitulate sooner: the one who needs difficult things or the one who uses what he can easily find? (Socrates)
A phrase that praises austerity.
14. The greatest declaration of love is the one that is not made; The man that feels a lot, speaks little. (Plato)
Don’t let your words cloud reality.
15. Happiness is in freedom, and freedom in courage. (Pericles)
This is how this Greek philosopher defines happiness.
16. Music is for the soul what gymnastics is for the body. (Plato)
A most accurate parallelism.
17. The human body is the chariot; the self, the man who drives it; Thoughts are the reins, and feelings are the horses. (Plato)
Defining every facet of the human being.
18. Friends often become thieves of our time. (Plato)
You trust them with your time, and this can be a big mistake.
19. By seeking the good of our fellow men, we find our own. (Plato)
In the common good there is also the personal good.
20. There is no man so cowardly whom love does not make brave and transform into a hero. (Plato)
Intoxicated by love, we are capable of the impossible.
21. Listen, you will be wise. The beginning of wisdom is silence. (Pythagoras)
The Greek mathematician conceived wisdom in this way.
22. Poverty does not come from the decrease in wealth, but from the multiplication of desires. (Plato)
Having more needs makes us slaves to economic power.
23. Tyrants surround themselves with bad men because they like to be flattered and no man of high spirit will flatter them. (Aristotle)
Loyalty between bad men is mere interest.
24. The purpose of art is to embody the secret essence of things, not to copy their appearance. (Aristotle)
About art and its essence.
25. Everyone’s friend is not a friend. (Aristotle)
If there is no criterion, there are no bases for friendship.
26. You never reach the total truth, nor are you ever totally far from it. (Aristotle)
We are in constant dialectic with truth and reason.
27. Two excesses must be avoided in the education of youth; too much severity, and too much sweetness. (Plato)
Moderation is the key.
28. Love consists of feeling that the sacred being beats within the loved one. (Plato)
Great phrase about love.
29. What I don’t know, I don’t think I know either. (Plato)
Knowledge must always be in question.
30. Every tear teaches mortals a truth. (Plato)
Sadness is a friend of the truth.
31. There are men who work as if they were going to live forever. (Democritus)
Remember that your time is not infinite.
32. The friend must be like money, before needing it, one knows its value. (Socrates)
A great metaphor to apply to life and relationships.
33. Wisdom is the goal of the human soul and, as knowledge advances, the horizon of the unknown is further removed. (Heraclitus)
A long-standing philosophical phrase.
34. Descend to the depths of yourself, and see your good soul. Happiness is only made by oneself with good behavior. (Socrates)
Ethics goes hand in hand with a clear conscience.
35. Young people today do not seem to have any respect for the past or any hope for the future. (Hippocrates)
A phrase that could be applied to the current era.
36. I only know that I know nothing. (Socrates)
One of those phrases from Greek philosophers that have gone around the world.
37. The beauty of a woman is illuminated by a light that leads us and invites us to contemplate the soul that such a body inhabits, and if she is as beautiful as this one, it is impossible not to love her. (Socrates)
A praise to the female figure.
38. The dead are the only ones who see the end of the war. (Plato)
To reflect on war conflicts and their consequences.
39. Beauty is the splendor of truth. (Plato)
For Plato, beauty was inseparable from reason.
40. Intelligence consists not only of knowledge, but also of the skill of applying knowledge in practice. (Aristotle)
Intelligence without practical skill would be an oxymoron.
41. Hope is the dream of the awakened man. (Aristotle)
Great phrase that leaves a mark.
42. What is acquired with a lot of work, is loved the more. (Aristotle)
Consistency brings very tasty fruits.
43. If you cheat on me once, it’s your fault; If you fool me two, it’s mine. (Anaxagoras)
One of those famous quotes to apply in our relationships.
44. Think as the wise think, but speak as simple people speak. (Aristotle)
There is no point in pretending to be wise with abstruse language.
45. True happiness consists in doing good. (Aristotle)
Ethics and kindness are not different things.
46. The solitary man is a beast or a god. (Aristotle)
There is no middle ground.
47. At the contact of love everyone becomes a poet. (Plato)
Sensitivity softens us all.
48. By learning to die you learn to live better. (Plato)
By being aware of death we can take advantage of life.
49. The best grave is the simplest. (Plato)
No luxury accompanies you after death.
50. Just as the eyes are formed for astronomy, the ears are formed to perceive the movements of harmony. (Plato)
Reflection on human perception.
51. The punishment of the liar is not to be believed, even when he tells the truth. (Aristotle)
Because you lie so much, no one believes your truths anymore.
52. It is an indisputable principle that to know how to command well, it is necessary to know how to obey. (Aristotle)
There is no hierarchy without understanding the chain of command.
53. Fear is a suffering caused by the expectation of evil. (Aristotle)
A philosophical description of fear.
54. Teaching is not a vital function, because it does not have an end in itself; The vital function is to learn. (Aristotle)
Pedagogy and its multiple benefits.
55. If they praise me so much, it will be because they praise themselves, because by praising me they show that they understand me. (Aristotle)
A somewhat narcissistic phrase.
56. Slowly, but quickly execute your decisions. (Socrates)
Control and agility in decision making.
57. The ignorant affirms, the wise doubts and reflects. (Aristotle)
One of those phrases from Greek philosophers that have survived to this day.
58. The wise man does not say everything he thinks, but he always thinks everything he says. (Aristotle)
Reflection and action, in that order.
59. I consider the one who conquers his desires to be braver than the one who conquers his enemies, since the hardest victory is the victory over oneself. (Aristotle)
Great thought from Aristotle to move forward strongly.
60. Some believe that to be friends it is enough to love, as if to be healthy it is enough to desire health. (Aristotle)
There are actions that speak louder than feelings.
61. We have two ears and one mouth, precisely to hear more and speak less (Zeno of Citium)
A great reflection that few people apply.
62. Remember that the secret of happiness is in freedom, the secret of freedom, courage. (Thucydides)
Another phrase that marks the path to happiness.
63. Only what is achieved with virtue is lasting. (Sophocles)
If it is not achieved with effort, it is worthless.
64. The sweetest life is to know nothing. (Sophocles)
Ignorance can bring happiness.
65. The man who is not satisfied with little is not satisfied with anything. (Epicurus of Samos)
Austerity is not everyone’s fiefdom.
66. Misfortune tests friends and reveals enemies. (Epithet)
When everything is going well it is usual for friends to hang around. It’s another story when you fail.
67. There is only happiness where there is virtue and serious effort, because life is not a game. (Aristotle)
A calm and prudent vision of existence.
68. There is only one good: knowledge. There is only one evil, ignorance. (Socrates)
A very clear way of classifying reality.
69. True wisdom lies in recognizing one’s own ignorance. (Socrates)
Phrase analogous to his famous “I only know that I know nothing.”
70. The virtuous is content to dream what the sinner accomplishes in life. (Plato)
The sinful life is more fun than that of an incorruptible being.
71. Hope is the only good common to all men; those who have lost everything still possess it. (Thales of Miletus)
A truly inspiring phrase that can serve as a guide.
72. Do not say a few things in many words, but many things in a few words. (Pythagoras)
This great Greek thinker and mathematician has left us great phrases full of meaning.
73. The most difficult thing is to know ourselves; The easiest is to speak badly of others. (Thales of Miletus)
A phrase that made as much sense in ancient Greece as it does now.
74. You will not find the confines of the soul even if you travel all the paths; such is its depth. (Heraclitus of Ephesus)
The great Greek philosophers made great contributions to modern Western thought.
75. Everything is animated and everything is full of gods. (Thales of Miletus)
Some of the pre-Socratic philosophers devised very innovative systems of thought for their time.
76. Shut up or say something better than silence. (Pythagoras)
One of the most famous phrases of this great Greek thinker.
77. All is lost when the bad serve as an example and the good serve as mockery. (Democritus)
Democritus knew how to define the Greek society of his time like no one else.
78. Educating is not giving a career to live, but rather tempering the soul for the difficulties of life. (Pythagoras)
Most pre-Socratic philosophers spent their lives reflecting on the human soul.
79. The happiness of the body is based on health; that of understanding, in knowledge. (Thales of Miletus)
A phrase that we can keep in mind throughout our lives to achieve mental and physical health.
80. Life without parties is like a long road without inns. (Democritus)
A truly striking phrase that can also be applied to our days.
81. No man steps in the same river twice, because it is not the same river and he is not the same man. (Heraclitus of Ephesus)
One of the most famous phrases of this great Greek thinker.
82. Many words never indicate wisdom. (Thales of Miletus)
A quote that is still valid today.
83. He who speaks, sows. He who listens, collects. (Pythagoras)
A phrase full of philosophical depth, attributed to this great thinker and mathematician.
84. It is better to hide ignorance than to expose it. (Heraclitus of Ephesus)
A contribution that has more than 2000 years of history and that is still necessary today.
85. It is more difficult to fight pleasure than anger. (Heraclitus of Ephesus)
Human emotions and the soul of men were some of the topics that this great Greek thinker addressed.
86. Water is the element and principle of things. (Thales of Miletus)
One of the bases of the philosophical thought of this great Greek thinker.
87. You should do great things, not promise great things. (Pythagoras)
Virtuosity is always in what we do, not in what we say.
88. The only thing that is constant is change. (Heraclitus of Ephesus)
One of the fundamental principles of the philosophy of this great thinker.
89. The supreme pleasure is obtaining what you want. (Thales of Miletus)
Human desires, divinities and the soul were some of the topics addressed by the Greek thinker Thales of Miletus.
90. Man is mortal because of his fears and immortal because of his desires. (Pythagoras)
A truly profound phrase loaded with philosophical meaning.
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