Plato Philosophical Quotations

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

Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all.

Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.

To suffer the penalty of too much haste, which is too little speed.

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.

Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.

We do not learn; and what we call learning is only a process of recollection.

Cunning... is but the low mimic of wisdom.

Then not only an old man, but also a drunkard, becomes a second time a child.

Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.

Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.

No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.

Hardly any human being is capable of pursuing two professions or two arts rightly.

Man is a wingless animal with two feet and flat nails.

He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.

If particulars are to have meaning, there must be universals.

The eyes of the soul of the multitudes are unable to endure the vision of the divine.

Philosophy begins in wonder.

To be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.

The gods created certain kinds of beings to replenish our bodies... they are the trees and the plants and the seeds.

Man never legislates,but destinies and accidents,happening in all sorts of ways,legislate in all sorts of ways.

Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.

The learning and knowledge that we have,is,at the most,but little compared with that of which we are ignorant.

Until philosophers hold power, neither states nor individuals will have rest from trouble.

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

What is honored in a country will be cultivated there.

My good friend, you are a citizen of Athens, a city which is very great and very famous for its wisdom and power - are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul?

The good is the beautiful.

A state arises,as I conceive,out of the needs of mankind;no one is self-sufficing,but all of us have many wants

That man is wisest who, like Socrates, realizes that his wisdom is worthless

Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.

Wisest is he who knows what he does not know.

I shall assume that your silence gives consent.