Plato Quotes
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Man is the plumeless genus of bipeds, birds are the plumed.
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By the golden chain Homer meant nothing else than the sun.
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To escape from evil we must be made as far as possible like God; and the resemblance consists in becoming just and holy and wise.
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Madness is a divine release of the soul from the yoke of custom and convention.
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As the proverb says, "a good beginning is half the business" and "to have begun well" is praised by all.
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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.
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Homosexuality is regarded as shameful by barbarians and by those who live under despotic governments just as philosophy is regarded as shameful by them, because it is apparently not in the interest of such rulers to have great ideas engendered in their subjects, or powerful friendships or passionate love - all of which homosexuality is particularly apt to produce.
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Perfect wisdom has four parts: Wisdom, the principle of doing things aright. Justice, the principle of doing things equally in public and private. Fortitude, the principle of not fleeing danger, but meeting it. Temperance, the principle of subduing desires and living moderately.
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To the rulers of the state then, if to any, it belongs of right to use falsehood, to deceive either enemies or their own citizens, for the good of the state: and no one else may meddle with this privilege.
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We understand why children are afraid of darkness ... but why are men afraid of light?
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Mankind will never see an end of trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom.
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Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
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When you feel grateful, you become great, and eventually attract great things.
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It was Plato, according to Sosigenes, who set this as a problem for those concerned with these things, through what suppositions of uniform and ordered movements the appearances concerning the movements of the wandering heavenly bodies could be preserved.
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Socrates isguilty of corrupting the minds of the young, and of believing indeities of his own invention instead of the gods recognized by the state.
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The passionate are like men standing on their heads, they see all things the wrong way.
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For our discussion is on no trifling matter, but on the right way to conduct our lives.
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This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.
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I prefer nothing, unless it is true.
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No one is so cowardly that Love could not inspire him to heroism.
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In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these means, man can attain perfection.
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For all good and evil, whether in the body or in human nature, originates ... in the soul, and overflows from thence, as from the head into the eyes.
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SOCRATES: Perhaps we may be wrong; if so, you in your wisdom should convince us that we are mistaken in preferring justice to injustice. THRASYMACHUS: And how am I to convince you, he said, if you are not already convinced by what I have just said; what more can I do for you? Would you have me put the proof bodily into your souls?
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And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves, then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven...Last of all he will be able to see the sun.