Big idea Quote by Robert J. Sawyer

“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

“The story is told of Socrates walking through the market in Athens, with its groaning abundance of options, and saying to himself, "Who would…

— Os Guinness

“Socrates, the dialectical hero of the Platonic drama, reminds us of the kindred nature of the Euripidean hero who must defend his actions with…

— Friedrich Nietzsche

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

— Troy DeNuthe

Every reader should remember the diffidence of Socrates, and repair by his candour the injuries of time: he should impute the seeming defects of…

— Samuel Johnson

“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

That man is wisest who, like Socrates, realizes that his wisdom is worthless

— Plato

“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

There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and…

— Michel de Montaigne

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

“Eventually you ascend the stairs to the street. You think of Plato's pilgrims climbing out of the cave, from the shadow world of appearances…

— Jay McInerney

Socrates gave a lifetime to the outpouring of his substance in the shape of the greatest benefits bestowed on all who cared to receive…

— Xenophon