I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.

Much learning does not teach understanding.

Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death.

I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession as they torment us with their loss.

Of all the things which wisdom acquires to produce the blessedness of the complete life far the greatest is the possession of Friendship.

An honest man is always a child.

Character is destiny.

A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.

The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

It is hard to contend against one’s heart’s desire; for whatever it wishes to have it buys at the cost of soul.

Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.

If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.

As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.

Big results require big ambitions.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.

Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempest.

It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet,than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.

Where there is reverence there is fear, but there is not reverence everywhere that there is fear, because fear presumably has a wider extension than reverence.

He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.

If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.

It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

You cannot step twice into the same river; for other waters are continually flowing in.

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.

I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good.

Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.

The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.

The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.

Couples are wholes and not wholes, what agrees disagrees, the concordant is discordant. From all things one and from one all things.

Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.

If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.

Justice… is a kind of compact not to harm or be harmed.

One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil...

There is nothing permanent except change.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll become a philosopher.