Plato Quotes

4th-century BCE Greek philosopher

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Plato (Πλάτων Plátōn; c. 427 BC – c. 347 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, founder of the Platonist school of thought and the Academy (Akademia), the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.

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Native Name: Πλάτων

Alternative Names: Plátōn • Platon • Aristocles • Αριστοκλής • Ἀριστοκλῆς

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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. / Nije problem dijete koje se boji mraka; prava tragedija su odrasli koji se boje svjetla.

You're my star, a stargazer too,
and I wish that I were heaven,
with a billion eyes to look at you.

And so, when a person meets the half that is his very own, whatever his orientation, whether it's to young men or not, then something wonderful happens: the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one another, and by desire, and they don't want to be separated from one another, not even for a moment.

I prefer nothing, unless it is true.

Love is of something, and that which love desires is not that which love is or has; for no man desires that which he is or has. And love is of the beautiful, and therefore has not the beautiful. And the beautiful is the good, and therefore, in wanting and desiring the beautiful, love also wants and desires the good.

I certainly have many enemies, and this is what will be my destruction if I am destroyed; of that I am certain; not Meletus, nor yet Anytus, but the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more; there is no danger of my being the last of them.

The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life

Let parents then bequeath to their children not riches but the spirit of reverence.

According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.

Zeno: The many do not know that except by this devious passage through all things the mind cannot attain to the truth.

Calligraphy is a geometry of the soul which manifests itself physically.

There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.

Those who don't know must learn from those who do.

Man...is a tame or civilized animal; never the less, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill- educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures.

No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.