Plato Quotes

The society we have described can never grow into a reality or see the light of day, and there will be no end to the troubles of states, or indeed, my dear Glaucon, of humanity itself, till philosophers become rulers in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.

No human thing is of serious importance.

The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.

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

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.

He whom loves touches not walks in darkness.

All I really know is the extent of my own ignorance

"That's what education should be," I said, "the art of orientation. Educators should devise the simplest and most effective methods of turning minds around. It shouldn't be the art of implanting sight in the organ, but should proceed on the understanding that the organ already has the capacity, but is improperly aligned and isn't facing the right way."

A dog has the soul of a philosopher.

He was a wise man who invented God.

In practice people who study philosophy too long become very odd birds, not to say thoroughly vicious; while even those who are the best of them are reduced by...[philosophy] to complete uselessness as members of society.

what if the man could see Beauty Itself, pure, unalloyed, stripped of mortality, and all its pollution, stains, and vanities, unchanging, divine,...the man becoming in that communion, the friend of God, himself immortal;...would that be a life to disregard?

Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.

All is flux, nothing stays still

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.