66 Plato Quotes Answering Deeper Questions of Existence

Welcome to the world of Plato Quotes, where the timeless wisdom of one of history’s greatest philosophers comes to life. Plato, a student of Socrates and mentor to Aristotle, left behind a treasure trove of ideas that continue to resonate through the ages. His reflections on justice, reality, and the nature of knowledge challenge and inspire us to ponder the deeper questions of existence. Whether you’re seeking insight, inspiration, or simply a thought-provoking perspective, Plato’s words offer a guiding light in the journey of understanding ourselves and the world around us. Dive into these quotes to explore the profound legacy of a thinker who has shaped the very foundations of Western philosophy.

Plato Quotes

1. “The greatest wealth is to live content with little.” ~ Plato

2. “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ~ Plato

3. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” ~ Plato

4. “For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.” ~ Plato
5. “Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.” ~ Plato
6. “All I really know is the extent of my own ignorance.” ~ Plato
7. “Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.” ~ Plato
8. “The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.” ~ Plato
9. “The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.” ~ Plato
10. “Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.” ~ Plato
11. “Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.” ~ Plato
12. “It is right to give every man his due.” ~ Plato
13. “In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state. When we are ill… we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one.” ~ Plato
14. “He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age.” ~ Plato
15. “No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.” ~ Plato
16. “No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.” ~ Plato
17. “Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man.” ~ Plato
18. “Have you ever sensed that our soul is immortal and never dies?” ~ Plato
19. “False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” ~ Plato
20. “A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.” ~ Plato
21. “Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.” ~ Plato
22. “Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.” ~ Plato
23. “People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.” ~ Plato
24. “Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.” ~ Plato
25. “True friendship can exist only between equals.” ~ Plato
26. “Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.” ~ Plato
27. “No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.” ~ Plato
28. “For good nurture and education implant good constitutions.” ~ Plato
29. “No wealth can ever make a bad man at peace with himself.” ~ Plato
30. “No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.” ~ Plato
31. “Not to help justice in her need would be an impiety.” ~ Plato
32. “At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.” ~ Plato
33. “Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.” ~ Plato
34. “He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.” ~ Plato
35. “Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.” ~ Plato
36. “Democracy passes into despotism.” ~ Plato
37. “If a man can be properly said to love something, it must be clear that he feels affection for it as a whole, and does not love part of it to the exclusion of the rest.” ~ Plato
38. “Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.” ~ Plato
39. “Justice means minding one’s own business and not meddling with other men’s concerns.” ~ Plato
40. “Love is a serious mental disease.” ~ Plato
41. “Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” ~ Plato
42. “Love is the pursuit of the whole.” ~ Plato
43. “Life must be lived as play.” ~ Plato
44. “No one ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern.” ~ Plato
45. “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.” ~ Plato
46. “Knowledge is the food of the soul.” ~ Plato
47. “Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.” ~ Plato
48. “Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.” ~ Plato
49. “Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.” ~ Plato
50. “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” ~ Plato
51. “You should not honor men more than truth.” ~ Plato
52. “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” ~ Plato
53. “He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.” ~ Plato
54. “Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.” ~ Plato
55. “Pleasure is the bait of sin.” ~ Plato
56. “There is no harm in repeating a good thing.” ~ Plato
57. “Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.” ~ Plato
58. “Time is the moving image of reality.” ~ Plato
59. “The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.” ~ Plato
60. “Necessity is the mother of invention.” ~ Plato
61. “Death is not the worst that can happen to men.” ~ Plato
62. “When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.” ~ Plato
63. “If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.” ~ Plato
64. “You’re my star, a stargazer too, and I wish that I were heaven, with a billion eyes to look at you.” ~ Plato
65. “Attention to health is life’s greatest hindrance.” ~ Plato
66. “No one is a friend to his friend who does not love in return.” ~ Plato