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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.

“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

All Quotes by Plato

“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

— Plato

Good

“There's a victory, and defeat the first and best of victories, the lowest and worst of defeats which each man gains or sustains at the hands not of another, but of himself.”

— Plato

Best

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

— Plato

Knowledge

“There must always remain something that is antagonistic to good.”

— Plato

Good

“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.”

— Plato

Anger

“He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.”

— Plato

Good

“Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.”

— Plato

Education

“It is a common saying, and in everybody's mouth, that life is but a sojourn.”

— Plato

Life

“Love is a serious mental disease.”

— Plato

Love

“Philosophy is the highest music.”

— Plato

Music

“If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.”

— Plato

Education

“States are as the men, they grow out of human characters.”

— Plato

Men

“Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.”

— Plato

Legal

“No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.”

— Plato

Education

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

— Plato

Good

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

— Plato

Good

“Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.”

— Plato

Knowledge

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”

— Plato

Courage

“Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”

— Plato

Knowledge

“Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.”

— Plato

Equality