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Evil Quotes by Plato

51 Evil quotes by Plato

All Evil quotes Plato’s page

Plato’s dialogues often circle the shadows of wrongdoing, probing the nature of justice and the soul’s struggle. This set of fifty‑one quotations pulls together his most resonant ideas, giving a window into the ancient philosopher’s enduring quest to understand the roots of moral failure.

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To do injustice is the greatest of all evils.

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Discordance is evil. Harmony is virtue.

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Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.

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Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

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No evil can happen to a good man either in life or after death.

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Fly from the company of the wicked--fly and turn not back.

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To do wrong is the greatest of evils.

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To a good man nothing that happens is evil.

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The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.

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When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading: Henny Youngman. He was a wise man who invented beer

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You may be sure, dear Crito, that inaccurate language is not only in itself a mistake: it implants evil in men's souls.

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The greatest penalty of evil-doing is to grow into the likeness of a bad man.

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“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

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There is yet something remaining for the dead, and some far better thing for the good than for the evil.

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All who do evil and dishonorable things do them against their will.

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No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.

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To escape from evil we must be made as far as possible like God; and the resemblance consists in becoming just and…

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The greatest penalty of evil-doing is to grow into the likeness of bad men, and, growing like them, to fly from the…

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For all good and evil, whether in the body or in human nature, originates ... in the soul, and overflows from thence,…

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Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all; too much cleverness…

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Wherever it has been established that it is shameful to be involved with sexual relationships with men, that is due to evil…

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The human race will have no respite from evils until those who are really philosophers acquire political power or until, through some…

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Interference by the three classes with each other s jobs, and interchange of jobs between them, therefore, does the greatest harm to…

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To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils,…

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For the man who makes everything that leads to happiness, or near to it, to depend upon himself, and not upon other…

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Laws are partly formed for the sake of good men, in order to instruct them how they may live on friendly terms…

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“Evil is the vulgar lover who loves the body rather than the soul, inasmuch as he is not even stable, because he…

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No one punishes the evil-doer under the notion, or for the reason, that he has done wrong -- only the unreasonable fury…

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The form of law which I propose would be as follows: In a state which is desirous of being saved from the…

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When anything is in the presence of evil, but is not as yet evil, the presence of good arouses the desire of…

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Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness…

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Until philosophers rule as kings or those who are now called kings and leading men genuinely and adequately philosophise, that is, until…

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“["F]or it's not possible," [Socrates] said, "for anybody to experience a greater evil than hating arguments. Hatred of arguments and hatred of…

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Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil.

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“Ignorance, the root and stem of every evil.”

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Ignorance: the root of all evil.

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Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil.

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The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.

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

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“The evil never attains to any real friendship, either with good or evil.”

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More by Plato

Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.

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You may be sure, dear Crito, that inaccurate language is not only in itself a mistake: it implants evil in men's souls.

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“If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is…

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Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.

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I do not think it is permitted that a better man be harmed by a worse.

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Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at…

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When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.

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“The love of man to woman is a thing common and of course, and at first partakes more of instinct and passion than of…

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Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehood's school, and the one man that dares to…

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“He was a wise man who invented God.”

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For let me tell you, that the more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm…

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“What shall we say about those spectators, then, who can see a plurality of beautiful things, but not beauty itself, and who are incapable…

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Geometry existed before creation.

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When men speak ill of thee, live so that nobody will believe them.

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We must, if we are to be consistent, and if we re to have a real pedigree herd, mate the best of our men…

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