--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Since Socrates and Plato first speculated…" description: "\"Since Socrates and Plato first speculated on the nature of the human mind, serious thinkers through the ages - from Aristotle to Descartes, from Aeschy..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/eric-kandel-10189_ages_since-socrates-and-plato-first-speculate_743971.png" --- # Since Socrates and Plato first speculated on the nature of… ![“Since Socrates and Plato first speculated on the nature of the human mind, serious thinkers through the ages - from Aristotle to Descartes, from Aeschylus to Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman - have thought it wise to understand oneself and one's behavior.” quote by Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/eric-kandel-10189_ages_since-socrates-and-plato-first-speculate_743971.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/eric-kandel-10189_ages_since-socrates-and-plato-first-speculate_743971.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/eric-kandel-10189_ages_since-socrates-and-plato-first-speculate_743971.png) > “Since Socrates and Plato first speculated on the nature of the human mind, serious thinkers through the ages - from Aristotle to Descartes, from Aeschylus to Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman - have thought it wise to understand oneself and one's behavior.” [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding oneself has been a long-standing intellectual pursuit, linking philosophy and science to explore human behavior. **In simple terms:** Self‑knowledge is a timeless quest. Key Takeaway Study your thoughts and actions. Themes philosophy psychology self‑awareness Mood reflective inquisitive Type academic inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - education - leadership development - personal growth Key Concepts cognition consciousness behavioral science Questions to Reflect On - What does self‑understanding enable? - How can you apply this insight daily? A Different Perspective Modern neuroscience may limit philosophical depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavior/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-mind/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Thinkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinkers/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [The highest thinkers of the ages, the seers of the tribes and the nations, have been optimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/the-highest-thinkers-of-the-ages-the-seers-of-the-tribes-and-the/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [It was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/it-was-not-by-accident-that-the-greatest-thinkers-of-all-ages-were/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [“We were like children after larks, always on the point of catching the art, which was always getting away from us.… At last we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-a-flynn/we-were-like-children-after-larks-always-on-the-point-of-catching-the/) Mark A. Flynn > [Socrates, in Plato, formulates ideas of order: the Iliad, like Shakespeare, knows that a violent disorder is a great order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/socrates-in-plato-formulates-ideas-of-order-the-iliad-like/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“Socrates: Have you noticed on our journey how often the citizens of this new land remind each other it is a free country? Plato:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/socrates-have-you-noticed-on-our-journey-how-often-the-citizens-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Apology (of Socrates) is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he defends himself against the charges of being a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-apology-of-socrates-is-plato-s-version-of-the-speech-given-by/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I wonder if Socrates and Plato took a house on Crete during the summer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-wonder-if-socrates-and-plato-took-a-house-on-crete-during-the-summer/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [“How often when they find a sage As sweet as Socrates or Plato They hand him hemlock for his wage Or bake him like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/how-often-when-they-find-a-sage-as-sweet-as-socrates-or-plato-they/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [Socrates and Plato are right: whatever man does he always does well, that is, he does that which seems to him good (useful) according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/socrates-and-plato-are-right-whatever-man-does-he-always-does-well/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ \[Akiro\] Kurosawa, no doubt, was a big influence. Movies sometimes more than directors have influenced me: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Ford, was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/costa-gavras/akiro-kurosawa-no-doubt-was-a-big-influence-movies-sometimes-more/) [Costa-Gavras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/costa-gavras/) > [If a face like Ingrid Bergman's looks at you as though you're adorable, everybody does. You don't have to act very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphrey-bogart/if-a-face-like-ingrid-bergman-s-looks-at-you-as-though-you-re/) [Humphrey Bogart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphrey-bogart/) > [I've never felt Truth was Beauty. Never. I've always felt that people can't take too much reality. I like being in Ingmar Bergman's world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-ve-never-felt-truth-was-beauty-never-i-ve-always-felt-that-people/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [“Jack Bergman, Diplomatic Security Service.” “Why”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-emmett/jack-bergman-diplomatic-security-service-why/) Patrick Emmett > [I tell you this: if I was in the house with those people in the Bergman flicks, I'd walk right out, much less pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bronson/i-tell-you-this-if-i-was-in-the-house-with-those-people-in-the/) [Charles Bronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bronson/) > [(On Ingrid Bergman) "I didn't do anything I've never done before, but when the camera moves in on that Bergman face, and she's saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphrey-bogart/on-ingrid-bergman-i-didn-t-do-anything-i-ve-never-done-before-but/) [Humphrey Bogart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphrey-bogart/) ## More by Eric Kandel > [“Indeed, the underlying precept of the new science of mind is that all mental processes are biological—they all depend on organic molecules and cellular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/indeed-the-underlying-precept-of-the-new-science-of-mind-is-that-all/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about the mind. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-the-1950s-and-early-1960s-psychoanalysis-swept-through-the/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [In art, as in science, reductionism does not trivialize our perception - of color, light, and perspective - but allows us to see each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-art-as-in-science-reductionism-does-not-trivialize-our-perception/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I don't think neurobiology is going to replace aesthetics or art history. It's a parallel discipline that adds a new dimension. I always compare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-don-t-think-neurobiology-is-going-to-replace-aesthetics-or-art/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [One of the ultimate challenges of biology is to understand how the brain becomes consciously aware of perception, experience and emotion. 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They thought that God was a mathematician and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/ever-since-the-enlightenment-people-thought-that-we-were-living-in-a/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I was interested in the nature of human mental processes, which is what got me interested in psychoanalysis. And it became clear to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-was-interested-in-the-nature-of-human-mental-processes-which-is/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [It may act as an ancillary factor, but by itself, the mutation in tau doesn't give you Alzheimer's disease. This is not to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/it-may-act-as-an-ancillary-factor-but-by-itself-the-mutation-in-tau/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [If you have a lesion in the hippocampus in both sides, you have short term memory, but you can convert that short term memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/if-you-have-a-lesion-in-the-hippocampus-in-both-sides-you-have-short/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [My heart beats in three-quarter time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/my-heart-beats-in-three-quarter-time/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Vienna is relatively small. And it had wonderful salons, opportunities for people to get together. There was a lot of interaction between scientists and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/vienna-is-relatively-small-and-it-had-wonderful-salons-opportunities/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Rather than studying the most complex form of memory in a very complicated animal, we had to take the most simple form - an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/rather-than-studying-the-most-complex-form-of-memory-in-a-very/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [One can, in principle, outline sort of a set of neural circuits that are critically involved and even identify disorders that affect different components…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/one-can-in-principle-outline-sort-of-a-set-of-neural-circuits-that/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) [Explore all 67 Eric Kandel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) ## More Ages quotes > [The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [People do stop me a lot, and what is really very rewarding is that the ages of the people who stop me vary so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-mcewan/people-do-stop-me-a-lot-and-what-is-really-very-rewarding-is-that-the/) [Geraldine McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-mcewan/) > [I have a very low tolerance for boredom and often think I would have missed out on books entirely if Id grown up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/i-have-a-very-low-tolerance-for-boredom-and-often-think-i-would-have/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [It is pain that ages us, not years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-prudden/it-is-pain-that-ages-us-not-years/) Bonnie Prudden > [We owe America something because they turned us into a touring band. But at least we feel confident about appearing in Britain again now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-marriott/we-owe-america-something-because-they-turned-us-into-a-touring-band/) Steve Marriott > [It's amazing when I do a gig how many people of different ages come up to me afterwards and chat to me about songs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-henderson/it-s-amazing-when-i-do-a-gig-how-many-people-of-different-ages-come/) [Ella Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-henderson/) > [There were three terrible ages of childhood - zero to 10, 10 to 20, and 20 to 30.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/there-were-three-terrible-ages-of-childhood-zero-to-10-10-to-20-and/) [Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/) > [Nothing ages like laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/nothing-ages-like-laziness/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [Music has no limits, borders or ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thalia/music-has-no-limits-borders-or-ages/) [Thalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thalia/) > [Ripen your mind to the glorious history of the ages and revel in your mastery as today's youth shall look upon you as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximillian-degenerez/ripen-your-mind-to-the-glorious-history-of-the-ages-and-revel-in-your/) [Maximillian Degenerez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximillian-degenerez/) > [I think that as I had children, I have five sons, and they got into video games and were the prime ages through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/i-think-that-as-i-had-children-i-have-five-sons-and-they-got-into/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Get off the stages, this is my show, my performance, for the ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/get-off-the-stages-this-is-my-show-my-performance-for-the-ages/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [Chemotherapy is just medieval. It's such a blunt instrument. We're going to look back on it like we do the dark ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-topol/chemotherapy-is-just-medieval-it-s-such-a-blunt-instrument-we-re/) [Eric Topol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-topol/) > [The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-needham/the-seven-ages-of-man-spills-drills-thrills-bills-ills-pills-and-wills/) [Richard J. 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