Cicero Quote by Jostein Gaarder

Socrates was the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and to place it in cities, and even to introduce it into homes…

— Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

“Did you hear the story of Socrates? He was a philosopher in ancient Greece, so they killed him.”

— Troy DeNuthe

“We know so little about Socrates but somehow we still remember he existed; more amazing yet, is how the meaning of ethics has completely…

— Alejandro C. Estrada

Socrates ... brought human wisdom back down from heaven, where she was wasting her time, and restored her to man… It is impossible to…

— Michel de Montaigne

“Before Socrates, philosophers were primarily interested in explaining the world around them and the phenomena of that world—in doing what we would now call…

— William B. Irvine

“for philosophy, Socrates, if pursued in moderation and at the proper age, is an elegant accomplishment, but too much philosophy is the ruin of…

— Plato

Socrates' fame spread all over Greece, and the most respected and educated men from all around came to him, in order to enjoy his…

— Moses Mendelssohn

“Socrates (770-399 B.C.[E.]) is possibly the most enigmatic figure in the entire history of philosophy. He never wrote a single line. Yet he is…

— Jostein Gaarder

Wonder [said Socrates] is very much the affection of a philosopher; for there is no other beginning of philosophy than this.

— Plato

So Socrates was a kind of gadfly. He was a sort of philosophical urban gorilla hanging around in the middle of Athens, asking these…

— Rebecca Goldstein

It's very important to remember that the philosophers were social dissidents. They were social critics. The man in the street or woman in the…

— Rebecca Goldstein