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Best of Socrates' Quotes

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher, and is credited as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought. Socrates was a widely admired and recognized, (though controversial) figure in ancient Greek philosophy. Admired by philosophers like Xenophon and Plato (who were his students), Socrates was portrayed in their works as a man of integrity, insight, and self-mastery. We can benefit from his wisdom by reading and appreciating the meaning in his quotes. A few are enlisted below. 

1. “Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.” 
― Socrates
2. “Every action has its pleasures and its price.” 
― Socrates
3. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” 
― Socrates
4. “The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” 
― Socrates, Essential Thinkers - Socrates
5. “Is it true; is it kind, or is it necessary?” 
― Socrates, Essential Thinkers - Socrates
6. “He is not only idle who does nothing, but he is idle who might be better employed.” 
― Socrates
7. “By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.” 
― Socrates
8. “Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.” 
― Socrates
9. “Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.” 
― Socrates
10. “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” 
― Socrates
11. “The really important thing is not to live, but to live well. And to live well meant, along with more enjoyable things in life, to live according to your principles.” 
― Socrates
12. “Be nicer than necessary to everyone you meet. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle.” 
― Socrates
13. “Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire; the other is to get it.” 
― Socrates
14. “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think” 
― Socrates
15. “The mind is everything; what you think you become” 
― Socrates, The Psychology of Fate & of Free Will
16. “Those who are hardest to love need it the most.” 
― Socrates
17. “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” 
― Socrates
18. “There is no greater evil one can suffer than to hate reasonable discourse.” 
― Socrates
19. “Understanding a question is half an answer.” 
― Socrates, Essential Thinkers - Socrates
20. “If you want to be a good saddler, saddle the worst horse; for if you can tame one, you can tame all.” 
― Socrates
21. “No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew it was the greatest of evils.” 
― Socrates, Apology
22. “Intelligent individuals learn from every thing and every one; average people, from their experiences. The stupid already have all the answers.”
― Socrates
23. “The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” 
― Socrates
24. “Wisdom begins in wonder.” 
― Socrates
25. “I pray Thee, O God, that I may be beautiful within.” 
― Socrates

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