--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I perceived how foolish I had been in…" description: "\"“I perceived how foolish I had been in consenting to take my turn with you in praising love, and saying that I too was a master of the art, when I real..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg" --- # I perceived how foolish I had been in consenting to take… ![“I perceived how foolish I had been in consenting to take my turn with you in praising love, and saying that I too was a master of the art, when I really had no conception how anything ought to be praised. For in my simplicity I imagined that the topics of praise should be true, and that this being…” quote by Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg) > ““I perceived how foolish I had been in consenting to take my turn with you in praising love, and saying that I too was a master of the art, when I really had no conception how anything ought to be praised. For in my simplicity I imagined that the topics of praise should be true, and that this being presupposed, out of the true the speaker was to choose the best and set them forth in the best manner. And I felt quite proud, thinking that I knew the nature of true praise, and should speak well. Whereas I now see that the intention was to attribute to Love every species of greatness and glory, whether really belonging to him or not, without regard to truth or falsehood—that was no matter; for the original proposal seems to have been not that each of you should really praise Love, but only that you should appear to praise him. And so you attribute to Love every imaginable form of praise which can be gathered anywhere; and you say that 'he is all this,' and 'the cause of all that,' making him appear the fairest and best of all to those who know him not, for you cannot impose upon those who know him. And a noble and solemn hymn of praise have you rehearsed. But as I misunderstood the nature of the praise when I said that I would take my turn, I must beg to be absolved from the promise which I made in ignorance, and which (as Euripides would say (Eurip. Hyppolytus)) was a promise of the lips and not of the mind. Farewell then to such a strain: for I do not praise in that way; no, indeed, I cannot. But if you like to hear the truth about love, I am ready to speak in my own manner, though I will not make myself ridiculous by entering into any rivalry with you. Say then, Phaedrus, whether you would like to have the truth about love, spoken in any words and in any order which may happen to come into my mind at the time. Will that be agreeable to you? Aristodemus”” [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True praise should reflect reality, not merely appear virtuous; authenticity outweighs superficial flattery. **In simple terms:** Praise must be sincere, not just showy. Key Takeaway Seek genuine expression. Themes truth integrity authenticity philosophy Mood reflective critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - academic debate - personal relationships - public speaking - writing Key Concepts sincerity love rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - What does authentic praise look like? - When is strategic flattery acceptable? A Different Perspective Superficial praise can be socially advantageous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Best man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-man/) [Euripides Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/euripides-say-3474886/) [Ignorance Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-euripides-3474884/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Praise Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise-love-530517/) [Praise Rehearsed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise-rehearsed-3474887/) [Praising Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praising-love-3474885/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“I hummed love songs, silent love songs the words of which I’ve forgotten, sang to myself for nights on end, never tiring of praising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-krausser/i-hummed-love-songs-silent-love-songs-the-words-of-which-i-ve/) [Helmut Krausser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-krausser/) > [“God of Love, Thank you that you are love itself. We praise you that it was for Love that your Son Jesus was born.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-holdsworth/god-of-love-thank-you-that-you-are-love-itself-we-praise-you-that-it/) [David Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-holdsworth/) > [“I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with passion put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/i-love-thee-freely-as-men-strive-for-right-i-love-thee-purely-as-they-2/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/i-love-thee-freely-as-men-strive-for-right-i-love-thee-purely-as-they/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [Ah woe is me, through all my daysWisdom and wealth I both have got,And fame and name and great men's praise;But Love, ah! Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cuyler-bunner/ah-woe-is-me-through-all-my-dayswisdom-and-wealth-i-both-have-got-and/) [Henry Cuyler Bunner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cuyler-bunner/) > [Your work should be in praise of what you love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/your-work-should-be-in-praise-of-what-you-love/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Thanks God for waking me up today all praise be to you. I love my fans bless them with happiness and good health. its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thanks-god-for-waking-me-up-today-all-praise-be-to-you-i-love-my-fans/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We praise Thee, Lord, of all the earth, for love and joy, for light and mirth, for every charm of sense and right, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-frances-alexander/we-praise-thee-lord-of-all-the-earth-for-love-and-joy-for-light-and/) [Cecil Frances Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-frances-alexander/) > [I'm tired of praise; and love is very sweet, when it is simple and sincere like this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/i-m-tired-of-praise-and-love-is-very-sweet-when-it-is-simple-and/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Now rejoice, all ye powers of my soul, that you are so united with God that no one may separate you from Him. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/now-rejoice-all-ye-powers-of-my-soul-that-you-are-so-united-with-god/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [“ Light and praise, Love and atonement, harmony and peace. Touch me, assail me, break and make my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-muir/light-and-praise-love-and-atonement-harmony-and-peace-touch-me-assail/) [Edwin Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-muir/) > [I love to praise what I love, and I won't for a minute believe that love is blind -- indeed, it gives clearness without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/i-love-to-praise-what-i-love-and-i-won-t-for-a-minute-believe-that/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Your art is to be the praise of something that you love. It may only be the praise of a shell or a stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/your-art-is-to-be-the-praise-of-something-that-you-love-it-may-only/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-do-i-love-thee-let-me-count-the-ways-i-love-thee-to-the-depth-and-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Instantly, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I didn't know exactly what I was feeling, but my buddy JD - my best man, whom I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-bishop/instantly-i-was-overwhelmed-with-gratitude-i-didn-t-know-exactly-what/) [Bryan Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-bishop/) ## More by Plato > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [You may be sure, dear Crito, that inaccurate language is not only in itself a mistake: it implants evil in men's souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/you-may-be-sure-dear-crito-that-inaccurate-language-is-not-only-in/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/if-men-learn-this-it-will-implant-forgetfulness-in-their-souls-they/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/knowledge-which-is-acquired-under-compulsion-obtains-no-hold-on-the/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I do not think it is permitted that a better man be harmed by a worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-do-not-think-it-is-permitted-that-a-better-man-be-harmed-by-a-worse/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/any-city-however-small-is-in-fact-divided-into-two-one-the-city-of/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/when-men-speak-ill-of-thee-live-so-as-nobody-may-believe-them/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“The love of man to woman is a thing common and of course, and at first partakes more of instinct and passion than of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-love-of-man-to-woman-is-a-thing-common-and-of-course-and-at-first/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/strange-times-are-these-in-which-we-live-when-old-and-young-are/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“He was a wise man who invented God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/he-was-a-wise-man-who-invented-god/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [For let me tell you, that the more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/for-let-me-tell-you-that-the-more-the-pleasures-of-the-body-fade-away/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“What shall we say about those spectators, then, who can see a plurality of beautiful things, but not beauty itself, and who are incapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/what-shall-we-say-about-those-spectators-then-who-can-see-a-plurality/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Geometry existed before creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/geometry-existed-before-creation/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [When men speak ill of thee, live so that nobody will believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/when-men-speak-ill-of-thee-live-so-that-nobody-will-believe-them/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [We must, if we are to be consistent, and if we re to have a real pedigree herd, mate the best of our men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/we-must-if-we-are-to-be-consistent-and-if-we-re-to-have-a-real/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) [Explore all 1,278 Plato quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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For in my simplicity I imagined that the topics of praise should be true, and that this being presupposed, out of the true the speaker was to choose the best and set them forth in the best manner. And I felt quite proud, thinking that I knew the nature of true praise, and should speak well. Whereas I now see that the intention was to attribute to Love every species of greatness and glory, whether really belonging to him or not, without regard to truth or falsehood—that was no matter; for the original proposal seems to have been not that each of you should really praise Love, but only that you should appear to praise him. And so you attribute to Love every imaginable form of praise which can be gathered anywhere; and you say that 'he is all this,' and 'the cause of all that,' making him appear the fairest and best of all to those who know him not, for you cannot impose upon those who know him. And a noble and solemn hymn of praise have you rehearsed. But as I misunderstood the nature of the praise when I said that I would take my turn, I must beg to be absolved from the promise which I made in ignorance, and which (as Euripides would say (Eurip. Hyppolytus)) was a promise of the lips and not of the mind. Farewell then to such a strain: for I do not praise in that way; no, indeed, I cannot. But if you like to hear the truth about love, I am ready to speak in my own manner, though I will not make myself ridiculous by entering into any rivalry with you. Say then, Phaedrus, whether you would like to have the truth about love, spoken in any words and in any order which may happen to come into my mind at the time. Will that be agreeable to you? Aristodemus”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Plato" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-consenting-to-take-my-turn-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-consenting-to-take-my-turn-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa1/plato-103_art_i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-co_1182601.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I perceived how foolish I had been in consenting to take my turn with you in praising love, and saying that…” — Plato", "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": "Plato", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I perceived how foolish I had...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-consenting-to-take-my-turn-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-perceived-how-foolish-i-had-been-in-consenting-to-take-my-turn-with/#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 } } ] } ```