The 90 best phrases of Socrates

Known as the father of philosophy, Socrates is considered one of the most significant and collaborative figures in history.

He gave way to the construction of criticism about different topics, not to gain fame, but to that each one will find his own way in the world as a whole and unique person, thinking and humble. Of him as his ward Plato made.

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Although Socrates did not leave an essentially visible legacy for future generations, it was his apprentices who in homage to his teachings, they left in history all those thoughts and knowledge of the great philosopher, which now you will know in their best phrases.

90 philosophical phrases of Socrates

With these phrases you can understand the importance of loving knowledge but being so humble to admit that we do not know everything. Then We leave you with our selection of famous phrases by Socrates.

1. True wisdom is in acknowledging your own ignorance.

Recognizing that we do not know about something is not a sign of shame, but of courage.

2. Love is the joy of good things, the wonder of the wise, the wonder of the gods.

A beautiful form of expression about love.

3. The richest is the one who is content with little.

Wealth is not about having thousands of material things, but about enjoying small everyday details.

4. The human body is the carriage; the self, the man who drives it; thought are the reins and feelings are the horses.

Only we are capable of being responsible for our actions.

5. Kings or rulers are not those who carry a scepter, but those who know how to command.

A leader is not one who can inherit power, but one who knows how to work with his group.

6. Knowledge begins in wonder.

Everything that catches our attention motivates us to want to know it completely.

7. It is better to change your mind than to stay in the wrong one.

Holding a wrong belief, just to avoid admitting wrong, is foolish.

8. Anyone who holds a true opinion on a subject that he does not understand is like a blind man on the right track.

Knowing something does not only imply knowing the theory, but empathizing with the subject.

9. I prefer knowledge to wealth, since the former is perennial, while the latter is outdated.

Wealth is not eternal, while knowledge allows you to open many doors.

10. Do not let the grass grow on the path of friendship.

Good friendships should be appreciated, as they are where we take refuge when we fall.

11. The noblest path is not to submit to others, but to perfect oneself.

To be successful it is not necessary to pass over others, but we need to grow ourselves.

12. I'd rather have crowds disagree with me than find myself out of harmony with myself.

Sometimes you have to be deaf to the criticism of others.

13. To find yourself, think for yourself.

Being independent brings any person strength.

14. Only knowledge that comes from within is true knowledge.

No one can know your truth more than yourself.

15. The souls of all men are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.

People who do well in this life can be fondly admired and remembered in all those that follow.

16. The greatest blessing given to humanity can come from the hand of madness.

Sometimes it is the people who are questioned as crazy, who are able to bring us a new light of knowledge.

17. He fears the love of a woman more than the hatred of a man.

Love can bring you a lot of joy, but it can also be used as the worst weapon of all.

18. Do not do to others what would make you angry if others did to you.

If you want to be treated in a certain way, you must first set the example.

19. Philosophy is the science of free men.

Philosophy allows anyone to question the world we live in, from its details to the most global.

20. An honest man is always a child.

Those who are honest have the purest soul of all and the assurance of speaking the truth.

21. The friend must be like money; Before you need it, you need to know its value.

Not all those who claim to be your friends really are.

22. Only God is the ultimate sage.

Socrates shows us his respect for whom he considered the absolute deity of knowledge.

23. Knowing is the main part of happiness.

If we live in ignorance, we will always fear and be ignorant.

24. Speak so that I can meet you.

The only way for others to know you is to open yourself up to them.

25. Be of good cheer about death, and make this truth your own: that nothing bad can happen to a good man, neither in life nor after death.

Death must be seen as a natural process of life, that way fears of it can be broken.

26. If I had devoted myself to politics, I would have died long ago.

Politics may not be the path of every good model citizen.

27. Lies are the greatest murderers, because they kill the truth.

It does not matter if the lies you tell are minor, because everyone will question the veracity of the rest.

28. Death could be the greatest of blessings.

For some people, death means peace.

29. No one knows whether or not death can be the greatest of all blessings for a man, but men fear it as if they knew it to be the greatest of evils.

Many think of death as a punishment, when there are worse things than it.

30. A life that has not been examined is not worth living.

It doesn't matter if you have everything, if you don't know how to appreciate what you have, or learn from your mistakes.

31. It is worse to carry out an injustice than to commit it, since whoever commits it becomes unjust but the other does not.

The person who performs it and the person who plans it is responsible for a bad act.

32. There is only one good: knowledge. There is only one evil, ignorance

A phrase that sentences a great truth.

33. I keep persuading everyone, young and old, not to focus on their people or their properties. Worry, above all, to improve the soul.

When we are good at heart, our actions in the world show it.

34. I wish ordinary people had the unlimited power to do evil and then the unlimited power to do good.

It is not about the power we can acquire but how we use it.

35. A man who risks nothing for his ideas, or his ideas are worth nothing or the man is worth nothing.

If your dreams are important, then fight for them with conviction.

36. Each action has its pleasures and its price.

Everything in this life has good and bad consequences.

37. The only true knowledge is knowing that you know nothing.

What we can be sure of without a doubt is that we are a blank slate waiting to be filled.

38. Wretched souls can only be conquered by gifts.

You can only buy from those who are corrupted inside.

39. Envy is the ulcer of the soul.

Envy leads people to commit the most despicable acts, only to ruin the happiness of the other.

40. Nothing is learned as well as what is discovered.

What we discover on our own stays with us forever and with greater force.

41. I am well aware that I am not wise at all.

Socrates did not see himself as a sage with absolute knowledge, but as a teacher who loved to teach what he knew.

42. The passage of time wrinkles your skin, but the lack of enthusiasm wrinkles your soul.

When we don't do what we love, our essence of living can wither.

43. Beauty is a fleeting tyranny.

Beauty is not eternal, but as long as it lasts, it can be very dark.

44. All wars occur to accumulate wealth.

Wars only benefit those who promote it.

45. Pride divides men, humility unites them.

Only good deeds have the power to separate differences.

46. And so they get richer and richer, because the more you think about making a fortune, the less you think about virtue.

Greedy people lose their humanity over time.

47. Being is doing.

The actions you do in life is what counts.

48. When wealth and virtue are placed in the balance together, one always rises as the other falls.

Greed cannot go hand in hand with goodwill.

49. Now children are tyrants. They have bad manners, they disrespect authority; they show a lack of respect towards the elderly and they love the talk instead of the exercise.

A question from many centuries ago that can be a reflection of now.

50. The opportunity is the precise moment in which we must receive or do something.

Opportunities have the power to change your life forever.

51. Not life, but the good life, is what should be most valued.

Not for the quality of the material but for what we can enjoy in a healthy way is what is really worth.

52. In whatever direction the soul travels, you will never stumble over its limits.

What we can express with our soul has no limit, because each soul is a universe.

53. I can't teach anyone anything. I can only make you think.

The best way to teach is through critical thinking and constant questioning of everything around us.

54. Education is the lighting of a flame, not the filling of a container.

Education is something that starts us, it is the fuel that every human being needs to advance.

55. He who is not happy with what he has, would not be happy with what he would like to have.

If we don't appreciate what we already have, we will never be able to appreciate what we have in the future. Since we will always want more and more without being satisfied.

56. What hurts us the most in life is the image we have in our heads of what it is supposed to be.

The bad judgments we make are often the biggest obstacle in life.

57. From the deepest desires, the most deadly hatreds often come.

If something gets in the way or denies us a deep desire, we will come to hate it.

58. The mind is everything; what you think you become.

If we have a positive image of life, we will face things in a better way, obtaining more positive results.

59. Do not do anything that is embarrassing, either in the presence of anyone or in secret. Be your first law... respect yourself.

Respecting ourselves as individuals is the first step in learning to respect other beings in the world.

60. Humanity is made up of two types of people: the wise people who know they are foolish, and the foolish people who think they are wise.

Wise people will always seek to become wiser and smarter, foolish people often feel that they already know everything they should and do not continue to instruct themselves.

61. If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't have it forever. Your mind is your situation.

Here we can clearly appreciate that happiness is what we interpret within our mind. Everyone has a different concept of it.

62. Spend your time improving yourself by reading other men's writings, so you can easily learn what others have learned through hard work.

In our days it is very easy to study about anything, this is the best way to invest our time.

63. Starting well is not little, but it is not much either.

To get any project on track we must start it well, but we also have to make sure we continue to make an effort.

64. Whoever wants to move the world must first move himself.

We cannot do something good in the world while we rest.

65. I call myself a peaceful warrior, because the battles we fight take place within.

Each one fights with his own demons, but we decide whether to surrender or win.

66. Get married. If you get a good woman, you will be happy. If you get a bad woman, you will be a philosopher.

Since ancient times the stigma arises in which philosophers are men who have suffered. Here Socrates remembers it once again, with a bit of humor.

67. The real battles are fought inside.

Controlling our thoughts and emotions is perhaps the most difficult action we will accomplish in our life.

68. Is it a good thing because the gods approve of it? Or is it that the gods approve of it because it is good?

This is a question about the origin of the good.

69. To say that something is natural means that it can be applied to all things.

An element that we call something natural means that it can coexist with everything, even with its opposites.

70. The really important thing is not to live, but to live well. And living well means, along with the most pleasant things in life, living according to our own principles.

If in essence living according to our principles will give us peace; peace is the key to open the door of good living.

71. Understanding a question is a half answer.

We cannot answer anything without first understanding well what they are asking us.

72. The pains of life should console us for death.

Although we suffer in life, all suffering is a reminder that we are alive.

73. Each of us will only be fair to the extent that he does his part.

If each person does what he is supposed to do, then the world would maintain a good balance, without humiliating anyone, or blind to power.

74. Only the knowledge that makes us better is useful.

Knowledge should be a tool that helps us grow, instead of going backwards.

75. I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world.

Borders can divide more than countries, they can directly divide the brotherhood of human beings.

76. There are two things greater than all things. One is love and the other is war.

Love is capable of curing everything and war is capable of destroying everything. They are the maximum expression, one of good and the other of evil.

77. To tell the truth, little eloquence is enough.

We can tell the truth by being clear and concise, we don't need to embellish it, just be honest.

78. Give me beauty in the inner soul; that the exterior and the interior of man be one.

It is very easy to value physical beauty that we can see with the naked eye, but true beauty is in people's feelings and thoughts.

79. Beware of the sterility of a busy life.

It's okay to work and be productive, but if we focus too much on this we neglect everything else in our life.

80. The secret of happiness is not found in the search for more, but in the development of the ability to enjoy with less.

It's okay to be ambitious, this will make us push ourselves. But it is not overdoing it because we will never be happy with what we have or achieve.

81. Excellence is a habit.

Excellence is achieved through daily effort, practice, and error. It is achieved through the habit of hard work.

82. The joy of the soul forms the most beautiful days of life in any season.

If we are fully happy, we will have the most beautiful days of our life no matter where we are or what the landscape looks like.

83. Poets are only the interpreters of God.

Poets write about the beauty of life, including the melancholy nuances that leave us with great lessons.

84. Philosophy is the search for truth as a measure of what man should do and as a norm for his conduct.

Philosophy seeks the truth, but in an ethical way, leading man on the path of good.

85. This is a universe that does not favor the shy.

In our world everything happens very fast and in a chaotic way. Sometimes we need to act quickly and confidently.

86. You will build a good reputation by striving to be what you want to appear to be.

A good reputation is not achieved by the status we have, but by the actions that led us to be where we are.

87. I will never fear or avoid something I do not know.

Here Socrates speaks of his scientific spirit where he seeks to know and know everything he can.

88. There is a chance that if you get under a tree you will get a lemon.

If we take actions that put us even minimally at risk, that risk can reach us. We must always be prepared for anything.

89. Through your rags I see your vanity.

Vanity is seen no matter how we visit, actions speak for us; not our clothes.

90. A good conscience is the best pillow for sleeping.

If our conscience is stained it will be very difficult to deal with it every night.