Top Ten Best Plato (Plátōn) Quotes

1 Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.

The best quote ever. So true.

2 You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

3 Like cattle,always looking downward with their heads bent toward the ground & the banquet tables,they[the unwise]feed,fatten,& fornicate.In order to increase their possessions they..butt with horns & hoofs of steel & kill each other,insatiable as they are

4 The inexperienced in wisdom & virtue,ever occupied with feasting & such,are carried downward..as is fitting,they wander their whole life long,neither ever looking upward to the truth above them nor rising toward it,nor tasting pure & lasting pleasures.

5 ..knowing that to a man who has any self-respect, nothing is more dishonourable than to be honoured, not for his own sake, but on account of the reputation of his ancestors.

6 ..we might have lived dishonourably,but have preferred to die honourably rather than bring you & your children into disgrace,& rather than dishonour our own fathers & forefathers;considering that life is not life to one who is a dishonour to his race..

7 No one should be discouraged, Theaetetus, who can make constant progress, even though it be slow. [Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow]

8 It is impossible to conceive of many without one.

9 I only wish that wisdom were the kind of thing that flowed… from the vessel that was full to the one that was empty.

10 Until philosophers are kings,or..kings & princes..have..spirit & power of philosophy,& political greatness & wisdom meet..& those commoner natures..are compelled to stand aside,cities will never have rest from their evils.