Plato
Plato
Platowas a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy, especially the Western tradition. Unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries, Plato's entire œuvre is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
music republic art-education
Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education.
order everyday vision
In order to seek one's own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life.
science soul looks
Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.
courage knowing
Courage is knowing what to fear.
plato health attention
Attention to health is life greatest hindrance.
plato ignorance evil
Ignorance of all things is an evil neither terrible nor excessive, nor yet the greatest of all; but great cleverness and much learning, if they be accompanied by a bad training, are a much greater misfortune.
lying eye beholder
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
plato justice lasts
And all knowledge, when separated from justice and virtue, is seen to be cunning and not wisdom; wherefore make this your first and last and constant and all-absorbing aim, to exceed, if possible, not only us but all your ancestors in virtue; and know that to excel you in virtue only brings us shame, but that to be excelled by you is a source of happiness to us.
ambition character reality
One trait in the philosopher's character we can assume is his love of the knowledge that reveals eternal reality, the realm unaffected by change and decay. He is in love with the whole of that reality, and will not willingly be deprived even of the most insignificant fragment of it - just like the lovers and men of ambition we described earlier on.
men giving every-man
It is right to give every man his due.
education real school
The only real ill-doing is the deprivation of knowledge.
plato laughter excess
A fit of laughter, which has been indulged to excess, almost always produces a violent reaction.
unseen unchanging cycles
The seen is the changing, the unseen is the unchanging.
philosophical greatest-victory shameful
To be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.