Socrates (born c. 470 BCE, Athens [Greece]—died 399 BCE, Athens) was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes¹.
Socrates believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater well-being of society. He attempted to establish an ethical system based on human reason rather than theological doctrine².
View our collection of the greatest Socrates quotes about life, soul, and wisdom.
Quotes From Socrates
A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true. — Socrates
All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine. — Socrates
An honest man is always a child. — Socrates
As for me, all I know is that I know nothing. — Socrates
As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent. — Socrates
Be as you wish to seem. — Socrates
Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant. — Socrates
Beauty is a short-lived tyranny. — Socrates
Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind. — Socrates
Beware the barrenness of a busy life. — Socrates
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. — Socrates
Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. — Socrates
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. — Socrates
False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil. — Socrates
From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate. — Socrates
He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy. — Socrates
He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. — Socrates
I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. — Socrates
I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean. — Socrates
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. — Socrates
I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. — Socrates
I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good. — Socrates
I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live. — Socrates
If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it. — Socrates
If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart. — Socrates
It is not living that matters, but living rightly. — Socrates
Let him that would move the world first move himself. — Socrates
My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll become a philosopher. — Socrates
Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued. — Socrates
Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior. — Socrates
One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him. — Socrates
Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death. — Socrates
Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us. — Socrates
The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him. — Socrates
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. — Socrates
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. — Socrates
The poets are only the interpreters of the Gods. — Socrates
The unexamined life is not worth living. — Socrates
The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. — Socrates
To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge. — Socrates
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. — Socrates
True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. — Socrates
Where there is reverence there is fear, but there is not reverence everywhere that there is fear, because fear presumably has a wider extension than reverence. — Socrates
Wisdom begins in wonder. — Socrates
Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live. — Socrates
