Plato
Traced to source
9 quotes we’ve traced to Plato
“The beginning is the most important part of the work”
Verified“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”
Attributed“Atheism is a disease of the soul, before it becomes an error of the understanding”
Disputed“I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was able to reason”
Disputed“Necessity is the mother of invention”
Disputed“Successful people never worry about what others are doing”
Disputed“The highest form of pure thought is in mathematics”
Disputed“They Riot in the Streets Inflamed with Wild Notions; Their Morals Are Decaying”
Disputed“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”
DisputedNot actually Plato
Often misattributed to Plato
Famous lines widely pinned on Plato that we’ve traced to someone else.
“Atheism is a disease of the soul, before it becomes an error of the understanding”
Plato (idea) — wording by William Fleming, 1857
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”
actually John Watson (“Ian Maclaren”)
“Empathy is the highest form of knowledge”
actually Bill Bullard
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything”
Falsely credited to Plato; earliest documented in Sir John Lubbock (1889)
“Necessity is the mother of invention”
actually English proverb (anonymous)
“Only the dead have seen the end of war”
actually George Santayana
“Successful people never worry about what others are doing”
actually Unknown
“The highest form of pure thought is in mathematics”
actually Origin unknown
“They Riot in the Streets Inflamed with Wild Notions; Their Morals Are Decaying”
actually Unknown (traced only to 1967)
“We are twice armed if we fight with faith”
actually William Shakespeare (literary root)
“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”
actually Unknown
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something”
actually Unknown
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation”
actually Richard Lingard (earliest documented source)
Did they really say it?
Thought Plato said something else?
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