Famous quotes from Greek philosophers
- Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft.
Pericles c.495-429 BC
- A man's character is his fate. Heraclitus c.540 - c. 480BC
- Painting is silent poetry, poetry is eloquent painting. Simonides c.556-468BC
- I am writing biography, not history, and the truth is that the most brilliant exploits often tell us nothing of the virtues or vices of the men who performed them, while on the other hand a chance remark or a joke may reveal far more of a man's character than the mere feat of winning battles in which thousands fall, or of marshalling great armies, or laying siege to cities. Plutarch c. AD 46 - c. 120
- Then I, however, showed again, by action, not in word only, that I did not care a whit for death....but that I did care with all my might not to do anything unjust or unholy. ( on being ordered by the Thirty Commissioners to take part on the liquidation of Leon of Salamis )Socrates 469-399 BC
- All use metaphors in conversation, as well as proper and appropriate words. Aristotle 384-322 BC
- If you take Greece apart, in the end you'll see remaining to you an olive tree, a vineyard and a ship. Which means: with just so much you can put her back together. Odysseus Elytis 1911
- Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous. Thucydides c.455-c.400 BC
- If one were to order all mankind to choose the best set of rules in the world, each group would, after due consideration, choose its own customs; each group regards its own as being far the best. Herodotus c.485-c.425 BC
- Habit is second nature. Aristotle 384-322 BC
- I would rather be tied to the soil as another man's serf, even a poor man's, who hadn't much to live on himself, than be King of all these the dead and destroyed. Homer: The Odyssey
- Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are death is not come, and when death is come, we are not. Epicurus 341-271 BC
- To get practice in being refused. (on being asked why he was begging for alms from a statue) Diogenes 404-323 BC
- Whereas then a rattle is suitable occupation for infant children, education serves as a rattle for young people when older. Aristotle 384-322 BC
- May temperance befriend me, the god's most lovely gift. Euripides c.485-c.406 BC
- One soul inhabiting two bodies. ( reply when asked "What is a friend?")
- You will never make a crab walk straight. Aristophanes c. 450- c.385
- Greek Gift - a gift given with intent to harm, in allusion to Virgil
- A gift though small is welcome. Homer 8th century BC
- Enemies' gifts are no gifts and do not good. Sophocles c. 496-c. 406 BC
- God is always doing geometry. Plato 429-347BC
- It is never right to do wrong or to requite wrong with wrong, or when we suffer evil to defend ourselves by doing evil in return. Socrates 469-399 BC
- Every art and every investigation, and likewise every practical pursuit or undertaking, seems to aim at some good: hence it has been well said that the God is That at which all things aim. Aristotle 384-322B
- I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win an applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time. Thucydides c.455-c.400BC
- History is philosophy from examples. Dionysius of Halicarnassus
- There are many wonderful things and, nothing is more wonderful than man. Sophocles c. 496-c. 406 BC
- My tongue swore, but my mind's unsworn (on his breaking of an oath) Euripides c.485 - c.406BC
- all Greek to me Completely unintelligible, Greek for unintelligible, language or giberish is recorded from the late 16th century
- Mere cleverness is not wisdom. Euripides c.485 - c.406BC
- Excessive dealings with tyrants are not good for the security of free states. Demosthenes c.384-c.322BC
- What I say is that 'just' or 'right' means nothing but what is in the interest of the strongest party. spoken by Thrasymachus Plato 429-347BC
- I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. Socrates 469-399 BC
- All man by nature desire knowledge. Aristotle 384-322B
- Not to be born is, past all prizing, best. Sophocles c. 496-c. 406 BC
- We live not as we wish to, but as we can. Menander 342-c.292BC
- An insolent reply from a polite person is a bad sign. Hippocrates c.460-c.370BC
- Man's best possession is a sympathetic wife. Euripides c.485 - c.406BC
- There is no 'royal road' to geometry. Euclid fl.c. 300BC
- Life is short, the art long. Hippocrates c.460-c.370BC
- Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also matter of opportunity. Hippocrates c.460-c.370BC
- The mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth. Plutarch c.AD46 - C.120
- Nature does nothing without purpose or uselessly. Aristotle 384-322BC
- Nothing have I found stronger than Necessity. Euripides c.485 - c.406BC
- Time is that wherein there is an opportunity is that wherein there is no great time. Hippocrates c.460-c.370BC
- Even a god cannot change the past. Agathon c.445BC
- I am not Athenian or Greek but a citizen of the world. Socrates 469-399 BC
- The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates 469-399 BC
- You have all the characteristics of a popular politician; a horrible voice, bad breeding and a vulgar manner. Aristophanes c.450-c.385
- Politicians also have no leisure, because they always are aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory, or happiness. Aristotle 384-322BC
- Man is by nature a political animal.
Aristotle 384-322BC
