--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would like to be a philosopher in…" description: "\"I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a poet in ancient China.\" — Shan Sa" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png" --- # I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a… ![“I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a poet in ancient China.” quote by Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png) > “I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a poet in ancient China.” [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Expresses a desire to embody both philosophical rigor of ancient Athens and poetic creativity of ancient China, highlighting a yearning for interdisciplinary identity. **In simple terms:** Want to be a philosopher and poet from ancient cultures. Key Takeaway Blend diverse intellectual traditions. Themes identity cross‑cultural aspiration Mood introspective aspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - education - creative writing - personal development Key Concepts philosophy poetry ancient civilizations Questions to Reflect On - Which tradition resonates more with you? - How can you integrate both? A Different Perspective Balancing two distinct traditions can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Athens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athens/) [Athens Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athens-poet-3663147/) [China](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/china/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Like Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-philosopher-2322782/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosopher Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher-ancient-3663146/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poet Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet-ancient-1123123/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Would](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would/) ## Related quotes > [“Did you hear the story of Socrates? 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There are so many musicians there that it is hard to get gigs and hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-smith/athens-much-like-austin-is-a-difficult-music-scene-there-are-so-many/) [Corey Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-smith/) > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. 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Neka noćne more iz prošlosti zauvijek nestanu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/s-novom-je-godinom-zapo-eo-novi-kozmi-ki-ciklus-neka-no-ne-more-iz/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [Politicians are better liars than writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/politicians-are-better-liars-than-writers/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [“I had lost some of my naivete and gained strength. These women with their pointless scheming could not contain me, and I watched the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/i-had-lost-some-of-my-naivete-and-gained-strength-these-women-with/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [I notice the silvery hair at his temples with a tinge of sadness. Why do parents grow old? Life is a castle of lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/i-notice-the-silvery-hair-at-his-temples-with-a-tinge-of-sadness-why/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [The moon in all her immaculate purity hung in the sky, laughing at this world of dust. She congratulated me for my carefully considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/the-moon-in-all-her-immaculate-purity-hung-in-the-sky-laughing-at/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [“Men’s strengths go hand in hand with their weaknesses. That is why there is no such thing as an invincible warrior, and why heroes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/men-s-strengths-go-hand-in-hand-with-their-weaknesses-that-is-why/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [“Obješen na nebu, Mjesec netaknute čistoće nije se brinuo za ovaj svijet prašine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/obje-en-na-nebu-mjesec-netaknute-isto-e-nije-se-brinuo-za-ovaj-svijet/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [“The strength of the snow and the fire has turned you into a traveling magician. You heal people by holding their hands between yours,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/the-strength-of-the-snow-and-the-fire-has-turned-you-into-a-traveling/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [To other women the choice of clothes was a form of ingenious exhibition, a shameless seduction. To me, dresses were like a breastplate that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/to-other-women-the-choice-of-clothes-was-a-form-of-ingenious/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) [Explore all 46 Shan Sa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a poet in ancient China.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shan Sa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-ancient-athens-and-a-poet-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancient" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-ancient-athens-and-a-poet-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f1/shan-sa-13713_ancient_i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-anci_2831659.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a poet in ancient China.” — Shan Sa", "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": "Shan Sa", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I would like to be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-ancient-athens-and-a-poet-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/i-would-like-to-be-a-philosopher-in-ancient-athens-and-a-poet-in/#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 } } ] } ```