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Socrates
(469-369 B.C.)
In his use of critical reasoning, by his unwavering
commitment to truth, and through the vivid example of his own life,
fifth-century Athenian Socrates set the standard for all subsequent
Western philosophy. Since he left no literary legacy of his own, we are
dependent upon contemporary writers like Aristophanes and Xenophon for
our information about his life and work. |
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thinkers home
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As a pupil of Archelaus during
his youth, Socrates showed a great deal of interest in the scientific
theories of Anaxagoras, but he later abandoned inquiries into the
physical world for a dedicated investigation of the development of moral
character. Having served with some distinction as a soldier at Delium
and Amphipolis during the Peloponnesian War, Socrates dabbled in the
political turmoil that consumed Athens after the War, then retired from
active life to work as a stonemason and to raise his children with his
wife, Xanthippe. After inheriting a modest fortune from his father, the
sculptor Sophroniscus, Socrates used his marginal financial independence
as an opportunity to give full-time attention to inventing the practice
of philosophical dialogue.
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Having the fewest
wants, I am nearest to the gods. |
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The
unexamined life is not worth living. |
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Bad
people live that they may eat and drink,
whereas good people eat and drink that they may live. |
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Virtue
is doing nothing to excess. |
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Let
those that would move the world first move themselves. |
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know is nothing can be known. |
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If
all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap,
whence everyone must
take an equal portion,
most people would be content to take their own
and depart. |
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To
do is to be.
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What
most counts is not to live,
but to live aright. |
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Children
today are tyrants.
They contradict their parents,
gobble their food, and tyrannize their
teachers. |
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Our
prayers should be for blessings in general,
for God knows best what is good for us.
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slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and
constant. |
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How
many things there are which I do not want. |
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Living
well and beautifully and justly are all one thing. |
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Beloved Pan, and all ye gods who haunt
this place,
give me beauty in the inward soul;
and may the outward and inward man be at one.
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