Uncover Life’s Meaning with Socrates Quotes on Life

“Socrates Quotes on Life” offer timeless wisdom for navigating life’s big questions. This Greek philosopher, famous for his dialogues and questioning approach, never wrote anything himself. Yet, his ideas on living a good life, as recorded by his students Plato and Xenophon, continue to inspire us today.

Socrates Quotes On Life

• “To find yourself, think for yourself.”
• “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”
• “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
• “The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
• “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
• “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”
• “Understanding a question is half an answer.”
• “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.”
• “An honest man is always a child.”
• “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”

Socrates Quotes On Life After Death

• “A man who has lived rightly has no fear of death.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo
• “True philosophers practice dying.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo
• “Death is but a separation of soul and body.”
• “No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils.”
  From Plato’s Apology.
• “The soul is immortal and imperishable.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo.
• “Death is one of two things. Either it is annihilation, and the dead have no consciousness of anything; or, as we are told, it is really a change: a migration of the soul from this place to another.”
• “The soul departs to a place where it can live forever.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo
• “Death is the release and separation from the body.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo
• “The soul of the true philosopher, therefore, will disdain the body and will strive to be alone and by herself, released from the body, and will desire to be alone by herself.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo
• “At death, the soul goes to the realm of the true and eternal.”
  From Plato’s Phaedo

Socrates Quotes On Life and Death

• “Death is a journey to another place.”
• “True wisdom prepares us for the afterlife.”
• “To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without 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 of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils.”
  From Plato’s Apology
• “It is not living that matters, but living rightly.”
  From Plato’s Crito
• “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”
  From Plato’s Apology
• “A good life is preparation for death.”
• “Death is one of two things: either a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another.”
• “To fear death is to misunderstand life.”
• “The end of life is to attain likeness to God.”
• “Living rightly is more important than merely living.”

Socrates Quotes On Life Wisdom

• “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
• “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”
• “Be as you wish to seem.”
• “By all means, marry: if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”
• “Let him who would move the world first move himself.”
• “Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.”
• “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”
• “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
• “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”
• “Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.”

Socrates Quotes On Life Wisdom & Philosophy to Inspire You

• “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
• “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
• “The hottest love has the coldest end.”
• “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.”
• “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
• “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”
• “The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be.”
• “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
• “The greatest blessings granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift.”
• “Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.”

Socrates Quotes On The Good Life

• “I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing.”
• “To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.”
• “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”
• “To be is to do.”
• “Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune, nor too scornful in misfortune.”
• “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”
• “The greatest blessings granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift.”
• “He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.”