Plato Wise Quotations

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

He was a wise man who invented beer.

Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.

We ought to fly away from earth to heaven as quickly as we can; and to fly away is to become like God, as far as this is possible; and to become like him is to become holy, just, and wise.

Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.

A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something.

If you are wise, all men will be your friends and kindred, for you will be useful.

May I deem the wise man rich, and may I have such a portion of gold as none but a prudent man can either bear or employ.

Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods; desired by those who have no part in him, and precious to those who have the better part in him.

So the state founded on natural principles is wise as a whole in virtue of the knowledge inherent in its smallest constituent class, which exercises authority over the rest. And the smallest class is the one which naturally possesses that form of knowledge which alone of all others deserves the title of wisdom.

It is better to be wise, and not to seem so, than to seem wise, and not be so; yet men, for the most part, desire the contrary.

Herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself: he had no desire for that of which he feels no want.

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading: Henny Youngman. He was a wise man who invented beer

Mob rule and emasculation of the wise' and 'who will watch the guardians'?

If there is a good and wise God, then there also exists a progress of humanity toward perfection.

Nothing is more unworthy of a wise man, or ought to trouble him more, than to have allowed more time for trifling, and useless things, than they deserve.

Wise men speak because they have something to say

If a man says that it is right to give every one his due, and therefore thinks within his own mind that injury is due from a just man to his enemies but kindness to his friends, he was not wise who said so, for he spoke not the truth, for in no case has it appeared to be just to injure any one.

Neither do the ignorant love wisdom or desire to become wise; for this is the grievous thing about ignorance, that those who are neither good nor beautiful think they are good enough, and do not desire that which they do not think they are lacking.

A wise ignorance is an essential part of knowledge.

Because, unlike courage and wisdom, which made our state brave and wise by being present in a particular part of it, discipline operates by being diffused throughout the whole of it. It produces a concord between its strongest and weakest and middle elements, whether you define them by the standard of good sense, or of strength, or of numbers or money or the like. And so we are quite justified in regarding discipline as this sort of natural harmony and agreement between higher and lower about which of them is to rule in state and individual.

Just as bees make honey from thyme, the strongest and driest of herbs, so do the wise profit from the most difficult of experiences.

Justice in the individual is now defined analogously to justice in the state. The individual is wise and brave in virtue of his reason and spirit respectively: he is disciplined when spirit and appetite are in proper subordination to reason. He is just in virtue of the harmony which exists when all three elements of the mind perform their proper function and so achieve their proper fulfillment; he is unjust when no such harmony exists.

Grant that I may become beautiful in my soul within, and that all my external possessions may be in harmony with my inner self. May I consider the wise to be rich, and may I have such riches as only a person of self-restraint can bear or endure.

The god, O men, seems to me to be really wise; and by his oracle to mean this, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness and of none effect.

To escape from evil we must be made as far as possible like God; and the resemblance consists in becoming just and holy and wise.

Music has the capacity to touch the innermost reaches of the soul and music gives flight to the imagination.

The wise man will want to be ever with him who is better than himself.