In this post, we’ve collected for you the best Plato quotes that can inspire you to be wiser and understand deeply the world around you.
Plato Short Biography
Plato was a famous Greek philosopher who was born in 428 BCE in Athens, Greece. He was believed to be originally named (Aristocles). Plato was the founder of the first University in the Western World known as the Academy.
Plato belonged to an aristocratic and rich family, and there is no information concerning his education. But documentations have shown that he was a wrestler and learned peotry, gymnastics, and philosophy.
When he was a youth, Plato became a follower of Socrates. And after Socrates have died, he visited many countries such as Italy, Sicily, and egypt where he studied philosophy.
After 12 years of traveling and studying philosophy, he founded the Academy, the first University in Europe. It was thanks to this event that he wrote many famous dialogues.
Then, he entered the world of politics in the city of Syracuse. And because he had betrayed one of his disciples, he was once sold as a slave.
Plato has given a lot to the field of philosophy such as his Theory of Forms, which is a philosophical concept. Moreover, Plato highlighted and explained the teachings of Socrates, and had left many thought-provoking dialogues.
10 Best Plato Quotes
“Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.” – Plato
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
“Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.”
“It is right to give every man his due.”
“I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning.”
“The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.”
“Time is the moving image of reality.”
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
8 Life & Death Quotes by Plato
“For to fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without really being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For no one knows whether death may not be the greatest good that can happen to man.” – Plato
“No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.”
“Attention to health is life’s greatest hindrance.”
“Life must be lived as play.”
“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.”
“No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.”
“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.”
“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.”
9 Quotes on Love & Friendship
“If a man can be properly said to love something, it must be clear that he feels affection for it as a whole, and does not love part of it to the exclusion of the rest.” – Plato
“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”
“Love is a serious mental disease.”
“You’re my star, a stargazer too, and I wish that I were heaven, with a billion eyes to look at you.”
“Love is the pursuit of the whole.”
“True friendship can exist only between equals.”
“Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.”
“No one is a friend to his friend who does not love in return.”
“Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.”
7 Quotes on Politics, Democracy & Communism by Plato
“In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state. When we are ill… we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one.” – Plato
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.”
“Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.”
“Democracy passes into despotism.”
“Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.”
“No one ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern.”
12 Plato Quotes on Knowledge, Education & Children
“No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.” – Plato
“Knowledge is the food of the soul.”
“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.”
“Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”
“Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.”
“Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.”
“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”
“Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.”
“For good nurture and education implant good constitutions.”
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.”
“If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.”
“Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.”
17 Quotes on Truth, Justice & Ethics by Plato
“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
“No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.”
“Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man.”
“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”
“All I really know is the extent of my own ignorance.”
“You should not honor men more than truth.”
“He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age.”
“Not to help justice in her need would be an impiety.”
“Justice means minding one’s own business and not meddling with other men’s concerns.”
“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.”
“Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.”
“There is no harm in repeating a good thing.”
“Virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us in all that we do.”
“All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.”
“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.”
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”
“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.”
7 Plato Quotes on Evil
“There is in every one of us, even those who seem to be most moderate, a type of desire that is terrible, wild, and lawless.” – Plato
“Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”
“Pleasure is the bait of sin.”
“No wealth can ever make a bad man at peace with himself.”
“Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.”
“He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.”
“When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.”
5 Quotes on the Soul by Plato
“Have you ever sensed that our soul is immortal and never dies?” – Plato
“And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.”
“Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.”
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”
“Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.”
16 Wisdom & Success Plato Quotes
“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
“The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.”
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; Fools, because they have to say something.”
“Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.”
“We are twice armed if we fight with faith.”
“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”
“Those who don’t know must learn from those who do.”
“Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.”
“I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.”
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
“The wisest have the most authority.”
“The most virtuous are those who content themselves with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.”
“One man cannot practice many arts with success.”
“Never discourage anyone…who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”
8 Philosophical Quotes by Plato
“There must always remain something that is antagonistic to good.” – Plato
“Man – a being in search of meaning.”
“Wisdom alone is the science of other sciences.”
“Philosophy begins in wonder.”
“Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.”
“Science is nothing but perception.”
“Philosophy is the highest form of music.”
“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.”
Latest Thoughts
We hope that you enjoyed reading the above Plato quotes.
This collection of inspiring quotes by Plato are still relevant even today, and they continue to inspire people from different generations.
His deep thoughts on philosophy, education and human nature reveal to us that critical thinking, self-reflection and seeking wisdom are so important in our lives.
These Plato words have the power to make us ask questions, explore, and to try to understand our nature as human beings as well as the environment we live in.
Over to you now, which quote from the above Plato quotes did you like the most? Please let us know in the comments section.
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