Quotes by Plato

Let men of all ranks whether they are successful, or unsuccessful, whether they triumph or not—let them do their duty, and rest satisfied.

— Plato

Success

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.

— Plato

Life

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

— Plato

Wisdom

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

— Plato

Life

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

— Plato

Education

The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.

— Plato

Education

We are twice armed if we fight with faith.

— Plato

Wisdom

Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.

— Plato

Love

There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.

— Plato

Life

Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.

— Plato

Love

The beginning is the most important part of the work.

— Plato

Success

Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.

— Plato

Wisdom

Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.

— Plato

Education

Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.

— Plato

Freedom

A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.

— Plato

Education

Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.

— Plato

Wisdom

Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.

— Plato

Courage

Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.

— Plato

Wisdom

Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.

— Plato

Education

A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.

— Plato

Wisdom

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

— Plato

Wisdom

People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.

— Plato

Wisdom

The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.

— Plato

Happiness

All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.

— Plato

Wisdom