Socrates had no system to teach. Throughout, his philosophy was a spiritual exercise, an invitation to a new way of life, active reflection, and living consciousness. — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
Ancient philosophy proposed to mankind an art of living. By contrast, modern philosophy appears above all as the construction of a technical jargon reserved… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
To know oneself means, among other things, to know oneself qua non-sage: that is, not as a sophos, but as a philo-sophos, someone on… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
“All Hellenistic schools seem to define [wisdom] in approximately the same terms: first and foremost, as a state of perfect peace of mind. From this viewpoint, philosophy appears as a remedy for human worries, anguish, and misery brought about, for the Cynics, by social constraints and conventions; for the Epicureans, by the quest for false pleasures; for the Stoics, by… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share
One could say that what differentiates ancient from modern philosophy is the fact that, in ancient philosophy, it was not only Chrysippus or Epicurus… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
Socrates had no system to teach. Throughout, his philosophy was a spiritual exercise, an invitation to a new way of life, active reflection, and… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
There was a Socratic style of life (which the Cynics were to imitate), and the Socratic dialogue was an exercise which brought Socrates' interlocutor… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
Socrates splits himself into two, so that there are two Socrates: the Socrates who knows in advance how the discussion is going to end,… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
Every person - whether Greek or Barbarian - who is in training for wisdom, leading a blameless, irreproachable life, chooses neither to commit injustice… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
Philosophy - reduced, as we have seen, to philosophical discourse - develops from this point on in a different atmosphere and environment from that… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
One of the characteristics of the university is that it is made up of professors who train professors, or professionals training professionals. Education was… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
Only he who is capable of a genuine encounter with the other is capable of an authentic encounter with himself, and the converse is… — Pierre Hadot Copy Share Image
