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Plato

97 quotes

Plato (circa 428–348 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. A student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, Plato's dialogues exploring justice, beauty, equality, and knowledge have shaped Western thought for over two millennia.

“He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.”

— Plato

Age

All Quotes by Plato

“He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.”

— Plato

Power

“The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.”

— Plato

Best

“The most important part of education is proper training in the nursery.”

— Plato

Education

“They certainly give very strange names to diseases.”

— Plato

Medical

“When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.”

— Plato

Fear

“Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.”

— Plato

Parenting

“Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all too much cleverness and too much learning, accompanied with ill bringing-up, are far more fatal.”

— Plato

Knowledge

“There is no harm in repeating a good thing.”

— Plato

Good

“Know one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.”

— Plato

Death

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”

— Plato

Imagination

“All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince.”

— Plato

God

“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”

— Plato

Good

“Courage is a kind of salvation.”

— Plato

Courage

“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?”

— Plato

Death

“Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.”

— Plato

Good

“Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.”

— Plato

Knowledge

“Philosophy is the highest music.”

— Plato

Music

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.”

— Plato

Knowledge

“I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident they came by work.”

— Plato

Work

“Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.”

— Plato

Change