--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The question up for debate between…" description: "\"“The question up for debate between Socrates and Phaedrus is whether the written word kills memory or aids it--whether it cripples the mind's power, or..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg" --- # The question up for debate between Socrates and Phaedrus… ![“The question up for debate between Socrates and Phaedrus is whether the written word kills memory or aids it--whether it cripples the mind's power, or whether it cures it of its forgetfulness.” quote by Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg) > ““The question up for debate between Socrates and Phaedrus is whether the written word kills memory or aids it--whether it cripples the mind's power, or whether it cures it of its forgetfulness.”” [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It debates whether writing weakens memory or strengthens it, questioning its effect on the mind. **In simple terms:** Writing can harm or help memory. Key Takeaway Balance reading and writing to support memory. Themes memory writing philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - studying - journaling - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts cognitive psychology knowledge retention Questions to Reflect On - Does writing improve your recall? - Can oral tradition replace written records? A Different Perspective Reading alone may not guarantee retention. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cripples Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cripples-mind-909524/) [Debate Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate-socrates-2677850/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Phaedrus Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phaedrus-written-2677851/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socrates/) [Socrates Phaedrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socrates-phaedrus-2677849/) ## Related quotes > [How fatally the entire want of humor cripples the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-fatally-the-entire-want-of-humor-cripples-the-mind/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edsger-dijkstra/the-use-of-cobol-cripples-the-mind-its-teaching-should-therefore-be/) [Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edsger-dijkstra/) > [“In 80% of Socrates' dialogues there was no constructive outcome. 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Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [While Socrates empties the cup of poison with unshaken soul,Christ exclaims,'If it is possible, let this cup pass from me'.Christ in this respect is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/while-socrates-empties-the-cup-of-poison-with-unshaken-soul-christ/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [“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/) > [Every reader should remember the diffidence of Socrates, and repair by his candour the injuries of time: he should impute the seeming defects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/every-reader-should-remember-the-diffidence-of-socrates-and-repair-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Nothing is richer than precious stones and than gold; nothing is finer than adamant, nothing nobler than the blood of kings; nothing is sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-passerat/nothing-is-richer-than-precious-stones-and-than-gold-nothing-is-finer/) [Jean Passerat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-passerat/) > [“Who, I ask, ever found salvation through the conquests of Alexander? 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That is, if you believe you have the truth then why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-boghossian/socrates-said-that-a-man-doesn-t-want-what-he-doesn-t-think-he-lacks/) [Peter Boghossian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-boghossian/) > [Plato, the first true pope of philosophy (sorry, Socrates), argued for a World of Forms above the reality-a transcendent plane of perfect essences, pure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/plato-the-first-true-pope-of-philosophy-sorry-socrates-argued-for-a/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [Socrates was likewise right that pissing people off is how we first, and maybe best, go about the business of provoking thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kingwell/socrates-was-likewise-right-that-pissing-people-off-is-how-we-first/) [Mark Kingwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kingwell/) > [“... a man doesn't like to have his ego popped, especially when he prides himself on his sagacity, and then to be proved wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/a-man-doesn-t-like-to-have-his-ego-popped-especially-when-he-prides/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) ## More by Maggie Nelson > [“When I was alive, I aimed to be a student not of longing but of light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/when-i-was-alive-i-aimed-to-be-a-student-not-of-longing-but-of-light/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [I think writing kind of burns out the flaming question. Sometimes it might feel like when you're living with certain paradoxes and they're unarticulated,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-think-writing-kind-of-burns-out-the-flaming-question-sometimes-it/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“I want you to know, if you ever read this, there was a time when I would rather have had you by my side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-want-you-to-know-if-you-ever-read-this-there-was-a-time-when-i/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“It is absurd, Barthes says, to try to flee from language's assertive nature 'adding to each sentence some little phrase of uncertainty, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/it-is-absurd-barthes-says-to-try-to-flee-from-language-s-assertive/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“I can remember a time when I took Henry James's advice--'try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!'--deeply to heart.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-can-remember-a-time-when-i-took-henry-james-s-advice-try-to-be-one/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [It is easier, of course, to find dignity in one's solitude. 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Can blue solve the problem, or can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/it-is-easier-of-course-to-find-dignity-in-one-s-solitude-loneliness/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“But “knowing the truth” does not come with redemption as a guarantee, nor does a feeling of redemption guarantee an end to a cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/but-knowing-the-truth-does-not-come-with-redemption-as-a-guarantee/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“Girls are cruelest to themselves,” observes Anne Carson in “The Glass Essay,” her brilliant long poem about the ravages of female anger, loneliness, grief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/girls-are-cruelest-to-themselves-observes-anne-carson-in-the-glass/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“On one hand, the Aristotelian, perhaps evolutionary need to put everything into categories– predators, twilight, edible – on the other, the need to pay homage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/on-one-hand-the-aristotelian-perhaps-evolutionary-need-to-put/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“Do not, however, make the mistake of thinking that all desire is yearning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/do-not-however-make-the-mistake-of-thinking-that-all-desire-is/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“Psychology forces everything we call love into the pathological or the delusional or the biologically explicable, that if that I was feeling wasn't love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/psychology-forces-everything-we-call-love-into-the-pathological-or/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“I edit myself into a boldness that is neither native or foreign to me. At times I grow tired of this approach, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-edit-myself-into-a-boldness-that-is-neither-native-or-foreign-to-me/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“The idea is a complicated one, as the burden falls to us to differentiate this Divine Darkness from other kinds of darknesses-- that off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/the-idea-is-a-complicated-one-as-the-burden-falls-to-us-to/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [Yes, I'm writing about motherhood, but I bristle a little bit, especially living with someone whose parenting falls between the cracks of what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/yes-i-m-writing-about-motherhood-but-i-bristle-a-little-bit/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“I do not know the reason for this blue pussy, meant to convey both divine bewilderment and revelation. But I do feel that its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-do-not-know-the-reason-for-this-blue-pussy-meant-to-convey-both/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) [Explore all 111 Maggie Nelson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) ## More Memory quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [“Maybe there is something when it all ends. Maybe there is memory, memory of the person you loved, when you lived. Maybe this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-ellison/maybe-there-is-something-when-it-all-ends-maybe-there-is-memory/) [Kate Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-ellison/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [“The whole town rushed outside to celebrate this crowded minute when the time of suffering had ended and the time of forgetting had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-whole-town-rushed-outside-to-celebrate-this-crowded-minute-when/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/your-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-doesn-t-it-simply-files-things/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [My first Olympics memory was watching Haile Gebrselassie in Sydney 2000. His sprint finish to defend his title really moved me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-farah/my-first-olympics-memory-was-watching-haile-gebrselassie-in-sydney/) [Mo Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-farah/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [My greatest memories as a kid were playing sports with my dad and watching sports with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-teixeira/my-greatest-memories-as-a-kid-were-playing-sports-with-my-dad-and/) [Mark Teixeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-teixeira/) > [What’s the use of remembering anything? If it was unpleasant it was unpleasant and if it was pleasant it’s over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/what-s-the-use-of-remembering-anything-if-it-was-unpleasant-it-was/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [Always remember a little thing can change everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-remember-a-little-thing-can-change-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If God knows me I will never forget him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/if-god-knows-me-i-will-never-forget-him/) [Trunxbeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trunxbeats/) [Browse all 12,248 Memory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The question up for debate between Socrates and Phaedrus is whether the written word kills memory or aids it--whether it cripples the mind's power, or whether it cures it of its forgetfulness.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maggie Nelson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/the-question-up-for-debate-between-socrates-and-phaedrus-is-whether/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Memory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/the-question-up-for-debate-between-socrates-and-phaedrus-is-whether/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/maggie-nelson-4294_memory_the-question-up-for-debate-between-socra_1883803.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The question up for debate between Socrates and Phaedrus is whether the written word kills memory or aids…” — Maggie Nelson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Maggie Nelson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The question up for debate between...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/the-question-up-for-debate-between-socrates-and-phaedrus-is-whether/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/the-question-up-for-debate-between-socrates-and-phaedrus-is-whether/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```