--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the useful is the noble and the hurtful…" description: "\"“the useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base”\" — Plato" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg" --- # the useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base ![“the useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base” quote by Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg) > ““the useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base”” [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. The noble is that which benefits others; the base is that which harms. **In simple terms:** Good deeds are noble; harm is base. Key Takeaway Choose to help, avoid hurting. Themes ethics virtue philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - public service - charitable work - conflict resolution Key Concepts altruism moral hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - How do you define “useful” in your life? - When might “useful” conflict with “noble”? A Different Perspective Nobility can be co‑opted for selfish gain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hurtful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurtful/) [Hurtful Base](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurtful-base-5379582/) [Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble/) [Noble Hurtful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble-hurtful-5379581/) [Useful Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useful-noble-2826295/) ## Related quotes > [Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/agriculture-is-the-most-healthful-most-useful-and-most-noble/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [He who gives himself to a lover because he is a good man, and in the hope that he will be improved by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/he-who-gives-himself-to-a-lover-because-he-is-a-good-man-and-in-the/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Hereditary honors are a noble and a splendid treasure to descendants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/hereditary-honors-are-a-noble-and-a-splendid-treasure-to-descendants/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [When I was a kid, there was teasing in school. Then when I was a teenager on 'Days of Our Lives,' I certainly experienced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-sweeney/when-i-was-a-kid-there-was-teasing-in-school-then-when-i-was-a/) [Alison Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-sweeney/) > [Before you say anything hurtful to someone think how you would feel if someone said it to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellie-mcgough/before-you-say-anything-hurtful-to-someone-think-how-you-would-feel/) [Ellie McGough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellie-mcgough/) > [“People should get their information from the source with facts before sharing it. Rumors can be lots of different opinions, based on what other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-j-barrier/people-should-get-their-information-from-the-source-with-facts-before/) [Ellen J. Barrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-j-barrier/) > [Life is hard, Love is heart breaking, people are mean hurtful and will back stab you in the back but no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney/life-is-hard-love-is-heart-breaking-people-are-mean-hurtful-and-will/) [Sydney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney/) > [By all means give vent to your anger, let it out in nondestructive ways--if you are still deciding to have it. But begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/by-all-means-give-vent-to-your-anger-let-it-out-in-nondestructive/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Im sick off the girls in my class calling me skinny bitch, you need to eat, I can see your bones, your anorexic. so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fading-scars/im-sick-off-the-girls-in-my-class-calling-me-skinny-bitch-you-need-to/) [Fading\_scars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fading-scars/) > [Recently it was pointed out to me - in a kind of hurtful way, to be honest - that people in Los Angeles are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/recently-it-was-pointed-out-to-me-in-a-kind-of-hurtful-way-to-be/) [Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/) > [Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-muller/bad-deeds-and-deeds-hurtful-to-ourselves-are-easy-to-do-what-is/) [Max Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-muller/) > [An Internet 'relationship' doesn't have to be catastrophically harmful to be inappropriate. Hurtful is bad enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/an-internet-relationship-doesn-t-have-to-be-catastrophically-harmful/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [How do most boys kno how to hurt a girl so bad to the point where they think theres no reason for me 2…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shanell/how-do-most-boys-kno-how-to-hurt-a-girl-so-bad-to-the-point-where/) [Shanell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shanell/) > [Someone on the internet referred to me as 'that horrible little man who's replacing Rob Lowe', which is hurtful, because I think of myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-malina/someone-on-the-internet-referred-to-me-as-that-horrible-little-man/) [Joshua Malina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-malina/) > [It is less hurtful to compel a man to marry someone whom he does not love than to follow a religion in which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/it-is-less-hurtful-to-compel-a-man-to-marry-someone-whom-he-does-not/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) ## 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 Hurtful quotes > [It is less hurtful to compel a man to marry someone whom he does not love than to follow a religion in which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/it-is-less-hurtful-to-compel-a-man-to-marry-someone-whom-he-does-not/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [Someone on the internet referred to me as 'that horrible little man who's replacing Rob Lowe', which is hurtful, because I think of myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-malina/someone-on-the-internet-referred-to-me-as-that-horrible-little-man/) [Joshua Malina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-malina/) > [How do most boys kno how to hurt a girl so bad to the point where they think theres no reason for me 2…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shanell/how-do-most-boys-kno-how-to-hurt-a-girl-so-bad-to-the-point-where/) [Shanell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shanell/) > [An Internet 'relationship' doesn't have to be catastrophically harmful to be inappropriate. Hurtful is bad enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/an-internet-relationship-doesn-t-have-to-be-catastrophically-harmful/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-muller/bad-deeds-and-deeds-hurtful-to-ourselves-are-easy-to-do-what-is/) [Max Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-muller/) > [Recently it was pointed out to me - in a kind of hurtful way, to be honest - that people in Los Angeles are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/recently-it-was-pointed-out-to-me-in-a-kind-of-hurtful-way-to-be/) [Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/) > [Im sick off the girls in my class calling me skinny bitch, you need to eat, I can see your bones, your anorexic. so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fading-scars/im-sick-off-the-girls-in-my-class-calling-me-skinny-bitch-you-need-to/) [Fading\_scars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fading-scars/) > [By all means give vent to your anger, let it out in nondestructive ways--if you are still deciding to have it. But begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/by-all-means-give-vent-to-your-anger-let-it-out-in-nondestructive/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Life is hard, Love is heart breaking, people are mean hurtful and will back stab you in the back but no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney/life-is-hard-love-is-heart-breaking-people-are-mean-hurtful-and-will/) [Sydney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney/) > [“People should get their information from the source with facts before sharing it. Rumors can be lots of different opinions, based on what other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-j-barrier/people-should-get-their-information-from-the-source-with-facts-before/) [Ellen J. Barrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-j-barrier/) > [Before you say anything hurtful to someone think how you would feel if someone said it to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellie-mcgough/before-you-say-anything-hurtful-to-someone-think-how-you-would-feel/) [Ellie McGough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellie-mcgough/) > [When I was a kid, there was teasing in school. Then when I was a teenager on 'Days of Our Lives,' I certainly experienced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-sweeney/when-i-was-a-kid-there-was-teasing-in-school-then-when-i-was-a/) [Alison Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-sweeney/) > [It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it. And we're in a place now where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince/it-s-a-hurtful-place-the-world-in-and-of-itself-we-don-t-need-to-add/) [Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince/) > [The next day, when I was sober, I thought again about the three of us, and about time's many paradoxes. For instance: that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-next-day-when-i-was-sober-i-thought-again-about-the-three-of-us/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/treat-not-others-in-ways-that-you-yourself-would-find-hurtful/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) [Browse all 297 Hurtful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurtful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Plato" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful-is-the-base/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hurtful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful-is-the-base/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/plato-103_hurtful_the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful_2290415.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base” — 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": "“the useful is the noble and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful-is-the-base/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-useful-is-the-noble-and-the-hurtful-is-the-base/#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 } } ] } ```