175 Socrates Quotes On Life, Wisdom & Philosophy To Inspire You

An amazing collection of Socrates quotes that will help you understand yourself better.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who was renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics.

Share your favorite Socrates quote with us in the comment section.

Socrates always aimed to inspire virtue in others and believed that living a virtuous life would bring greater happiness to society.

According to the Greek historian Xenophon, Socrates’s commitment to ethics was evident in his emphasis on the importance of virtuous living for the greater well-being of society.

What Are The Benefits Of Reading Socrates’ Quotes?

He is regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of the ancient era and is credited as one founder of Western philosophy.

Although he remains an enigmatic figure, he left no writings and most of his teachings are known from the writings of his students, particularly Plato and Xenophon.

Understanding the teachings of Socrates can:

• help you understand the ethical system based on human reasoning
• encourage you to focus on the greater well-being of society
• help you understand how asking questions is essential to gaining knowledge

Because he did not conform to the local traditions, many felt that his teachings threatened their way of life.

They sentenced him to death, and he died after being forced to drink poison hemlock.

From one of the greatest philosophers of all time, we found these ancient wisdom quotes from Socrates on love, youth and philosophy – that can hopefully provide you with actionable insight.

Enjoy!!

Here’s is our collection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking Socrates quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

Explore our complete collection of motivational quotes here.

Famous Socrates Quotes About Life From His Writings And Overall Philosophy

Socrates’s philosophy emphasized the pursuit of knowledge, with his famous quote “I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing” highlighting his belief in the value of humility and continuous learning.

Socrates believed that the pursuit of knowledge was essential for personal growth and the betterment of society.

1. “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates (see more wise words)

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2. “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” – Socrates

3. “To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.” – Socrates

4. “I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing.” – Socrates

5. “Be as you wish to seem.” – Socrates

6. “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.” – Socrates

Socrates Quotes On Love, Youth And Philosophy

7. “I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.” – Socrates

8. “A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.” – Socrates

9. “He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” – Socrates

10. “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” – Socrates

Also, check out our list of stoic quotes that will strengthen your perspective on life.

Socrates Quotes About Life

11. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

12. “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” – Socrates

13. “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” – Socrates

Socrates Quotes That Will Make You Wise

14. “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” – Socrates

15. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Socrates

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16. “To find yourself, think for yourself.” – Socrates

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17. “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” – Socrates

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18. “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” – Socrates

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Best Socrates Quotes

19. “Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.” – Socrates

20. “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” – Socrates

21. “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” – Socrates

22. “Envy is the ulcer of the soul.” – Socrates

Famous Socrates Quotes

23. “Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love.” – Socrates

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to check out our collection of Friedrich Nietzsche quotes on life and love.

24. “If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.” – Socrates

24. “Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of – for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” – Socrates

Socrates Quotes That Are Full Of Wisdom

25. “Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.” – Socrates

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26. “Remember what is unbecoming to do is also unbecoming to speak of.” – Socrates

27. “The shortest and surest way to live with honour in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find, that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice of them.” – Socrates

28. “Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.” – Socrates

29. “Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.” – Socrates

30. “Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.” – Socrates

31. “Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.” – Socrates

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Socrates Quotes On Life And Love

32. “If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.” – Socrates

33. “Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.” – Socrates

34. “Only the extremely ignorant or the extremely intelligent can resist change.” – Socrates

35. “The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” – Socrates

36. “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” – Socrates

37. “People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.” – Socrates

38. “Wisdom begins in wonder.” – Socrates

39. “When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” – Socrates

40. “The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is better? Only God knows.” – Socrates

41. “The hottest love has the coldest end.” – Socrates

42. “Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue-to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.” – Socrates

Socrates Quotes That Will Help You Improve Yourself

43. “Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.” – Socrates

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

45. “From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.” – Socrates

46. “The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbor.” – Socrates

47. Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” – Socrates

48. “Call no man unhappy until he is married.” – Socrates

49. “Let him that would move the world, first move himself.” – Socrates

50. “Do it because it’s in your heart. Not because you want something in return.” – Socrates

Great Socrates Quotes For Those Seeking Wisdom

51. “We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.” – Socrates

52. “The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.” – Socrates

53. “The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves. ” – Socrates

54. “False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” – Socrates

55. “The mind is everything; what you think you become” – Socrates

56. “Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune.” – Socrates

57. “It is better to change an opinion than to persist in a wrong one.” – Socrates

58. “Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they’re fools, and fools who think they are wise.” – Socrates

59. “The purpose in life is to develop a strong character.” ― Socrates

60. “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.” – Socrates

Socrates Quotes To Elevate Your Perspective

61. “I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good.” – Socrates

62. “If I save my insight, I don’t attend to weakness of eyesight.”― Socrates

63. “In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.” – Socrates

64. “…[R]eal wisdom is the property of God, and… human wisdom has little or no value.”― Socrates

65. “No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest; yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government.” – Socrates

66. “I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live.”― Socrates

67. “An education obtained with money is worse than no education at all.” – Socrates

68. “The triumph of my art is in thoroughly examining whether the thought which the mind of the young man brings forth is a false idol or a noble true birth.”― Socrates

69. “Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one.” – Socrates

70. “Speak, so that I may see you.”― Socrates

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Socrates Quotes To Elevate Your Mind

71. “How many are the things I can do without!” – Socrates

72. “We gain our first measure of intelligence when we first admit our own ignorance.”― Socrates

73. “Nothing is to be preferred before justice.” – Socrates

74. “Justice. If only we knew what it was.”― Socrates

75. “Worthless people love only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” – Socrates

76. “Know Thyself.”― Socrates

77. “Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to that truth.” – Socrates

78. “It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit.”― Socrates

79. “Doing good is a matter of looking after the part of yourself which matters most, namely your soul.” – Socrates

80. “What I do not know, I do not think I know.”― Socrates

Thoughtful Socrates Quotes To Inspire You

81. “Slanderers do not hurt me because they do not hit me.” – Socrates

82. “Wisdom is knowing what you don’t know.” – Socrates

83. “I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” – Socrates

84. “It is better to be at odds with the whole world than, being one, to be at odds with myself.” – Socrates

85. “They are not only idle who do nothing, but they are idle also who might be better employed.” – Socrates

86. “The beginning of wisdom is a definition of terms.” – Socrates

87. “We can do nothing without the body, let us always take care that it is in the best condition to sustain us.” – Socrates

88. “The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection.” – Socrates

89. “You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.” – Socrates

90. “Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.” – Socrates

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More Socrates Quotes

91. “Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.” – Socrates

92. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” – Socrates

93. “Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.” – Socrates

94. “Every action has its pleasures and its price.” – Socrates

95. “Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.” – Socrates

96. “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.” – Socrates

97. “Understanding a question is half an answer.” – Socrates

98. “One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him.” – Socrates

99. “The greatest blessing granted to mankind came by way of madness, which is a divine gift.” – Socrates

100. “Those who are hardest to love need it the most.” – Socrates

101. “I have not sought during my life to amass wealth and to adorn my body, but I have sought to adorn my soul with the jewels of wisdom, patience, and above all with a love of liberty.” – Socrates

102. “I love to go and see all the things I am happy without.” – Socrates

103. “The soul, like the body, accepts by practice whatever habit one wishes it to contact.” – Socrates

104. “Only the knowledge that comes from inside is the real Knowledge.” – Socrates

105. “The first key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be.” – Socrates

Socrates Quotes To Make You Think

106. “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” -Socrates

107. “The poets are only the interpreters of the gods.” -Socrates

108. “Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind.” -Socrates

109. “Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death.” -Socrates

110. “As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.” -Socrates

111. “I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.” -Socrates

112. “He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.” -Socrates

113. “Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.” -Socrates

114. “All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.” -Socrates

115. “An honest man is always a child.” -Socrates

Powerful Socrates Quotes To Make You Think

116. “Nothing is so well learned as that which is discovered.” — Socrates

117. “Falling down is not a failure. Failure comes when you stay where you have fallen.” — Socrates

118. “True perfection is a bold quest to seek. Only the willing and true of heart will seek the betterment of many.” — Socrates

119. “Be nicer than necessary to everyone you meet. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle.” — Socrates

120. “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Socrates

121. “Smart people learn from everything and everyone. Average people from their experiences. Stupid people already have all the answers.” — Socrates

122. “I call myself a peaceful warrior because the battles we fight are on the inside.” — Socrates

123. “The value of a man is measured in the number of those who stand beside him, not those who follow.” — Socrates

124. “There are two kinds of disease of the soul, vice and ignorance.” — Socrates

125. “Be the kind of person that you want people to think you are.” — Socrates

Socrates Quotes To Give Some Wisdom

126. “The definition of terms is the beginning of wisdom.” ― Socrates

127. “Aren’t you ashamed to be concerned so much about making all the money you can and advancing your reputation and prestige, while for truth and wisdom and the improvement of your souls you have no thought or care?” ― Socrates

128. “It is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong” ― Socrates

129. “…a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods.” ― Socrates

130. “He who would change the world should first change himself.” ― Socrates

131. “…[S]one of the opinions which people entertain should be respected, and others should not.” ― Socrates

132. “The mind is the pilot of the soul.” ― Socrates

133. “And now we go, you to your lives, and I to death, and which of us goes to the better only God knows” ― Socrates

134. “Human nature will not easily find a better helper than eros” ― Socrates

135. “I am likely to be wiser than he to this small extent, that I do not think I know what I do not know.” ― Socrates

Socrates Quotes To Bring You Wisdom That Will Change Your Life 

136. “Awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom.” — Socrates

137. “If you want to be wrong then follow the masses.” — Socrates

138. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” — Socrates

139. “The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” — Socrates

140. “Why should we pay so much attention to what the majority thinks?” — Socrates

141. “When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it.” — Socrates

142. “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” ― Socrates

143. “Knowing thyself is the height of wisdom.” — Socrates

144. “True wisdom lies in one’s confession about the limits of one’s knowledge.” — Socrates

145. “Wise men speak when they have something to say, fools speak because they have to say something” — Socrates

Socrates Quotes To Help You Strive In Life

146. “One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice.” — Socrates

147. “Since I am convinced that I wrong no one, I am not likely to wrong myself.” — Socrates

148. “I prefer to be refuted than to refute, for it is a greater good for oneself to be freed from the greatest evil than to free another.” — Socrates

149. “Wisdom adorneth riches and casteth a shadow over poverty.” — Socrates

150. “Anybody can be a hellene, by his heart, his mind, his spirit.” — Socrates

151. “Some have courage in pleasures, and some in pains: some in desires, and some in fears, and some are cowards under the same conditions.” — Socrates

152. “I have lived long enough to learn how much there is I can really do without…. He is nearest to God who needs the fewest things.” — Socrates

153. “The examined life is the only life worth living.” — Socrates

154. “So I spoke the truth when I said that neither I nor you nor any other man would rather do injustice than suffer it: for it is worse.” ― Socrates

155. “What a lot of things there are a man can do without.” — Socrates

Socrates Quotes On Wisdom, Knowledge And Change

156. “The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing.” ― Socrates

157. “The man who is truly wise knows that he knows very little.” ― Socrates

158. “It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.” ― Socrates

159. “The greater the power that deigns to serve you, the more honor it demands of you.” ― Socrates

160. “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” ― Socrates

161. “Courage is knowing what not to fear.” ― Socrates

162. “The beginning is the most important part, especially when dealing with anything young and tender.” ― Socrates

163. “He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.” ― Socrates

164. “The individual leads in order that those who are led can develop their potential as human beings and thereby prosper.” ― Socrates

165. “Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.” ― Socrates

Thought-Provoking Socrates Quotes

166. “No man is capable of causing great evil without thinking he’s doing the right thing.” ― Socrates

167. “Is something good because the gods approve of it? Or do the gods approve of it because it is good?” ― Socrates

168. “A man who preserves his integrity no real, long-lasting harm can ever come.” ― Socrates

169. “Sometimes you have to lose your mind before you come to your senses.” ― Socrates

170. “Virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private.” ― Socrates

171. “They give you the semblance of success, I give you the reality…” ― Socrates

172. “Anyone who’s really fighting for justice must live as a private citizen and not as a public figure if he’s going to survive even a short time.” ― Socrates

173. “Once a man knows good from evil, nothing on earth can compel him to act against that knowledge.” ― Socrates

174. “Rather you marry or not, you’ll regret.” ― Socrates

175. “Bad people live that they may eat and drink, whereas good people eat and drink that they may live.” ― Socrates

Which Are Your Favorite Socrates Quotes

Socrates is regarded as one of the most influential Greek philosophers of ancient times.

He inspired many students, including the philosopher Plato.

He emphasized that great leaders should have knowledge, virtue and a complete understanding of themselves.

Hopefully, these Socrates quotes have helped you know yourself better.

Did you enjoy these Socrates quotes?

Which of the quotes was your favorite?

Tell us in the comment section below.

We would love to hear all about it.