Plato Quotes
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Of all the things of a man's soul which he has within him, justice is the greatest good and injustice the greatest evil.
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The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.
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I am about to die, and that is the hour in which men are gifted with prophetic power.
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Sin is disease, deformity, and weakness.
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Let us affirm what seems to be the truth, that, whether one is or is not, one and the others in relation to themselves and one another, all of them, in every way, are and are not, and appear to be and appear not to be.
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Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds.
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The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.
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The democratic youth lives along day by day, gratifying the desire that occurs to him, at one time drinking and listening to the flute, at another downing water and reducing, now practicing gymnastic, and again idling and neglecting everything; and sometimes spending his time as though he were occupied in philosophy.
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People too smart to get involved in politics are doomed to live in societies run by people who aren't.
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The measure of a man is what he does with power.
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Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow... even if that someone is yourself!
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Hereditary honors are a noble and a splendid treasure to descendants.
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As there are misanthropists or haters of men, so also are there misologists, or haters of ideas.
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The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.
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Love is the pursuit of the whole.
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For neither does wealth bring honour to the owner, if he be a coward; of such a one the wealth belongs to another, and not to himself. Nor does beauty and strength of body, when dwelling in a base and cowardly man, appear comely, but the reverse of comely, making the possessor more conspicuous, and manifesting forth his cowardice.
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He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.
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A fit of laughter, which has been indulged to excess, almost always produces a violent reaction.
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For when there are no words, it is very difficult to recognize the meaning of the harmony and rhythm, or to see any worldly object is imitated by them.
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A dog has the soul of a philosopher.
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The purpose of education is to give to the body and to the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are capable.
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For a poet is a light and winged thing, and holy, and never able to compose until he has become inspired, and is beside himself, and reason is no longer in him.
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There is also a third kind of madness, which is possession by the Muses, enters into a delicate and virgin soul, and there inspiring frenzy, awakens lyric... But he, who, not being inspired and having no touch of madness in his soul, comes to the door and thinks he will get into the temple by the help of art - he, I say, and his poetry are not admitted; the sane man is nowhere at all when he enters into rivalry with the madman.
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But this is not difficult, O Athenians! to escape death; but it is much more difficult to avoid depravity, for it runs swifter than death. And now I, being slow and aged, am overtaken by the slower of the two; but my accusers, being strong and active, have been overtaken by the swifter, wickedness. And now I depart, condemned by you to death; but they condemned by truth, as guilty of iniquity and injustice: and I abide my sentence, and so do they. These things, perhaps, ought so to be, and I think that they are for the best.