Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they're fools, and fools who think they are wise. - Socrates

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Engraved portrait of Socrates, facing left

Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they're fools, and fools who think they are wise.

English
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About Socrates

Socrates (Σωκράτης; c. 470 BC – 399 BC) was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Copy of Lysippos (?) (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Native Name: Σωκράτης
Alternative Names: Sokrates Sokratis

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Additional quotes by Socrates

In this present life, I reckon that we make the nearest approach to knowledge when we have the least possible concern or interest in the body, and are not saturated with the bodily nature, but remain pure until the hour when God himself is pleased to release us. And then the foolishness of the body will be cleared away and we shall be pure and hold converse with other pure souls, and know of ourselves the clear light everywhere; and this is surely the light of truth. For no impure thing is allowed to approach the pure. These are the sort of words, Simmias, which the true lovers of wisdom cannot help saying to one another, and thinking.

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