Plato
Greek philosopher of the Classical period, student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, and founder of the Academy in Athens (c. 387 BCE) — the institution that would shape Western philosophy for nine hundred years. Born around 428/427 BCE into an aristocratic Athenian family, Plato came of age in a city traumatized by the Peloponnesian War, and was deeply marked by the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BCE. From the establishment of the Academy onward, he wrote the dialogues that have been read continuously for two and a half millennia — the Apology, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, Meno, Republic, Theaetetus, Timaeus, Sophist, Statesman, Philebus, Laws, and dozens of others — through which he developed the Theory of Forms, the tripartite soul, the cardinal virtues, the philosopher-king, the allegory of the cave, the chariot of the soul, and the doctrine of recollection. Whitehead's quip that 'all of Western philosophy is footnotes to Plato' is, if anything, an understatement. He died in Athens around 348/347 BCE.
quotes in library
Quotes by Plato
114 quotes“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”
“Love is a serious mental disease.”
“Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as it first resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.”
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination.”
“And charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
“He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.”
“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself.”
“Better a little which is well done than a great deal imperfectly.”
“There are three classes of men: lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.”
“Knowledge of any kind is not lost in the soul.”
“All learning is recollection.”
“The soul takes nothing with her to the next world but her education and culture.”
“True philosophy is the practice of dying.”
“Those who genuinely philosophize practice nothing else but dying and being dead.”
“Death is the separation of soul from body.”
“And the philosopher prepares for this all his life.”
“This is the ladder of love.”
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