Socrates

Socrates

470 BC – 399 BC

Socrates (c.Β 470–399Β BCE) was the founder of Western philosophy, though he left no writings of his own. He practised philosophy as a way of life, engaging Athenians in relentless questioning (the Socratic method) to expose the limits of their knowledge. Sentenced to death for impiety and corrupting the youth, he chose hemlock over exile, exemplifying his conviction that justice matters more than survival.

Key works: Socratic method Β· Apology Β· Examined life

Top quotes by Socrates

  1. β€œThe greatest blessing granted to mankind come by way of madness.”
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  2. β€œThe unexamined life is not worth living.”
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  3. β€œIt is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong.”
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  4. β€œThe only good I know is knowledge, and the only evil I have experienced is ignorance.”
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  5. β€œThink of a horse or a yoke of oxen; they have their worth; but who shall gauge the worth of a worthy friend?”
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  6. β€œDo you not know that for many a long day, ever since I was born, sentence of death was passed upon me by nature?”
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  7. β€œIs not this ignorance of a disgraceful sort, the ignorance which is the conceit that a man knows what he does not know?”
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  8. β€œNor yet again because I die innocently is that a reason why I should lower my crest, for that is a blot not upon me but upon those who condemned me.”
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