Socrates
Traced to source
13 quotes we’ve traced to Socrates
“He knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know”
Verified“The unexamined life is not worth living”
Verified“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder”
Verified“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom”
Attributed“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”
Disputed“Children today are lazy and disrespectful, they no longer obey their parents and contradict their teachers”
Disputed“Don't talk of peace and love when you have a dead animal on your plate”
Disputed“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think”
Disputed“I know that I know nothing”
Disputed“Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful?”
Disputed“Smart people learn from everything and everyone; average people from their experiences; stupid people already have all the answers”
Disputed“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be”
Disputed“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser”
DisputedNot actually Socrates
Often misattributed to Socrates
Famous lines widely pinned on Socrates that we’ve traced to someone else.
“Be moderate in everything, including moderation”
actually Unknown — earliest documented in Wallace Rice (1927)
“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”
actually Unknown
“Children today are lazy and disrespectful, they no longer obey their parents and contradict their teachers”
actually Kenneth John Freeman
“Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty”
actually Joseph Addison
“Don't talk of peace and love when you have a dead animal on your plate”
actually Unknown
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”
actually Plutarch
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”
actually Plutarch
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think”
actually Unknown
“Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful?”
actually Unknown
“Know thyself”
actually The Delphic maxim (Seven Sages of Greece)
“Smart people learn from everything and everyone; average people from their experiences; stupid people already have all the answers”
actually Unknown
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise”
actually Kenneth John Freeman
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled”
actually Plutarch
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”
actually Dan Millman
“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser”
actually Unknown (anonymous, c. 2006)
Did they really say it?
Thought Socrates said something else?
Type a quote you think Socrates said — we’ll tell you what we know, or point you to the best sources.