Ancient Wisdom: Brilliant Pieces Of Advice From Socrates
To go through life without paying attention to the elevation of character and the cultivation of virtues, carried along by the current of modern society, does not seem to be the wisest decision.
Let us contemplate together some of the famous sayings of a man who dedicated his life to the pursuit of Truth and left behind many important lessons worth reflecting on - the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.
Discover some of Socrates' most famous sayings and pieces of advice passed on to posterity that are sure to make you think:
Pieces Of Advice From The Great Socrates
1. Know thyself.
2. To find yourself, think for yourself.
3. Let he who would transform the world first transform himself.
4. I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think.
5. Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
6. In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.
7. He who is not satisfied with what he has will not be satisfied with what he would like to have.
8. There is only one good thing - knowledge and one bad thing - ignorance.
9. Nature has given us two ears, and two eyes, but only one tongue - so, in the end, we should hear and see more than we speak.
10. False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.
11. The hottest love has the coldest end.
12. Out of the most ardent desires often arise the most destructive enmities.
13. The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.
14. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.
15. Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity or undue depression in adversity.
16. The richest is he who is content with the least, for contentment is nature's wealth. Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.
17. Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.
18. For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private.
19. He who has been wronged should not return the injustice, for under no circumstances can it be just to do a wrong deed. And it is not fair to return an injustice or to do harm to anyone, however much we may have suffered because of it.
20. 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.
21. If you don't get what you want, you suffer. If you get what you don't want, you suffer. Even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't have it forever. Your mind makes it difficult for you. It wants to be free of change, of pain, of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no matter how much it (the mind) pretends otherwise, this reality will not change.
22. To know is to know that you know nothing. This is the meaning of true knowledge. True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
23. I am wiser than this man; it is likely that neither of us knows anything worthwhile, but he thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas when I do not know, neither do I think I know; so I am likely to be wiser than he to this small extent, that I do not think I know what I do not know.
24. I am neither Athenian nor Greek but a citizen of the world.
25. No man acquires a trade which he has not learned, not even the most pathetic; yet all consider themselves sufficiently qualified for the most difficult of all trades, that of governing.
26. The nearest way to glory a shortcut, as it were is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.
27. The comic and the tragic are inseparably close, like light and shadow.
28. The fewer desires we have, the more we resemble the Gods.
29. The souls of all men are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.
30. The hour of parting has come, and each goes his own way. I will die, and you will live. Which is better? Only God knows.
31. Death may be the most wonderful of all human blessings.
32. Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.
33. I pray to You, Lord, that I may be beautiful inside.
