Socrates Quotes
Socrates never wrote anything down. What we know of his words comes mostly from his student Plato. The quotes below cite the dialogue they come from, and the section after them lists popular lines that Socrates never said.
4 real Socrates quotes, with sources
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”Socrates — Plato, Apology 38a
“I neither know nor think that I know.”Socrates — Plato, Apology 21d — the source of the popular “I know that I know nothing”
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.”Socrates — Plato, Theaetetus 155d
“No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.”Socrates — Plato, Apology 41d
Famous quotes Socrates never said
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”Spoken by a character named “Socrates” in Dan Millman's 1980 novel Way of the Peaceful Warrior, not by the philosopher.
Who was Socrates?
Socrates spent his life questioning people in the Athenian marketplace, showing them how little they really knew. In 399 BC Athens put him on trial for impiety and corrupting the young, and he chose to drink hemlock rather than give up philosophy. Read more on Wikipedia.
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What is Socrates's most famous quote?
One of the best known is “The unexamined life is not worth living.” (Plato, Apology 38a)
Did Socrates really say “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”?
No. Spoken by a character named “Socrates” in Dan Millman's 1980 novel Way of the Peaceful Warrior, not by the philosopher.
Where do these Socrates quotes come from?
Socrates never wrote anything down. What we know of his words comes mostly from his student Plato. The quotes below cite the dialogue they come from, and the section after them lists popular lines that Socrates never said.
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