100+ Famous Socrates Quotes That Inspire Wisdom and Critical Thinking

"I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing."

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."

"To find yourself, think for yourself."

"Wisdom begins in wonder."

"He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have."

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for."

"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing."

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

"Let him who would move the world first move himself."

"By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher."

"Be as you wish to seem."

"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel."

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

"Know thyself."

"To do wrong is more disgraceful than to be wronged."

"An unexamined belief may cause more harm than an unexamined life."

"He who has committed the crime, and he who has shared in it, are equally guilty."

"No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable."

"We cannot live better than in seeking to become better."

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it."

"He who is wise will do well, but he who is good will do better."

"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it."

"He who is not satisfied with little will never be satisfied with much."

"The greatest blessing granted to mankind comes by way of learning."

"Virtue is knowledge."

"No one does wrong willingly."

"It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well."

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

"A good person does not harm others, even when harmed themselves."

"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil."

"The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be."

"All virtue is summed up in dealing justly."

"He who is unable to live in society cannot be other than a beast or a god."

"The greatest wealth is to live content with little."

"Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live."

"The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways—I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows."

"I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think."

"Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder."

"The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance."

"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser."

"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance."

"To be fully conscious that you know nothing is the beginning of wisdom."

"Ignorance is the root and stem of all evil."

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

"The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourself."

"It is absurd to grow angry at a man as though he were worthy of anger, when you might as well blame a rock."

"The only way to deal with fear is to face it head-on."

"Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people."

"Courage is knowing what not to fear."

"He who has overcome his fears will truly be free."

"The brave man is not he who feels no fear, but he who conquers that fear."

"Death may be the greatest of all human blessings."

"To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without really being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know."

"Envy is the ulcer of the soul."

"He who is not a good servant will not be a good master."

"Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live."

"He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."

"The shortest and surest way to live with honor is to live honestly."

"Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior."

"Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us."

"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

"Respect a man, he will do the same."

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

"The tongue is the messenger of the heart."

"He who tells lies, also suffers them."

"To learn is to discover our own ignorance."

"The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms."

"The reason why people lie is that they lack the strength to face the truth."

"Doubt is the origin of wisdom."

"To believe in truth is to be deceived; to seek truth is to find freedom."

"Justice is doing one's own business and not being a busybody."

"The laws of a state are the agreement between the rulers and the ruled."

"The proper administration of justice is the firmest basis of good government."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"He who breaks the law makes himself a slave to those who obey it."

"The punishment of injustice is that one becomes unjust."

"No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity."

"He who is not a good servant will not be a good master."

"The laws are the silent interpreters of the moral code."

"It is not right to return wrong for wrong, or injury for injury."

"The greatest crime is to counterfeit justice."

"To commit injustice is worse than to suffer it."

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

"He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have."

"To live alone one must be a beast or a god."

"Death may be the greatest of all human blessings."

"He who is unable to live in society cannot be other than a beast or a god."

"The generation of all animals proceeds from other animals, while the first principle of motion is born in itself."

"We are in fact convinced that if we are to have clear knowledge of anything, we must get rid of the body."

"The greatest blessing granted to mankind comes by way of learning."

"He who is wise will do well, but he who is good will do better."

"The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways—I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows."

"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it."

"He who is not satisfied with little will never be satisfied with much."

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."

"The love of the body is temporary, but the love of the soul is eternal."

"Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior."

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing."

"By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher."

"The most important thing in life is not to win, but to take part."

"He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still."

"Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness."

"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant."

"The greatest victory is that over the self."

"He who is not a good servant will not be a good master."

"To be yourself is the beginning of wisdom."

"Philosophy is the practice of death."

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

"To do what is right, not what is easy."

"The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear."

"The greatest blessing granted to mankind comes by way of learning."

"He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have."

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."

"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it."

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it."

"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life."

"Be as you wish to seem."

"The mind is everything; what you think, you become."