The 80 best quotes of Plato and his philosophy

The Greek philosopher left us brilliant reflections on a wide variety of topics.

The philosopher Plato was, in many ways, one of the most important figures in the development of Western culture.

This selection of Plato's phrases is interesting precisely because, through short reflections, he gives us a glimpse of his rich philosophical thought that left an incomparable legacy.

Related articles:

• "70 phrases of Socrates to understand his thought".
• "The 90 best phrases of Aristotle".
• "75 phrases of René Descartes to understand his philosophy"

Selected phrases of Plato

In this compilation of the best thoughts and reflections you can find the basic elements of Plato's philosophy.

1. Where love reigns, laws are superfluous.

A reflection on love as a social cohesion.

2. At night, especially, it is beautiful to believe in light.

One of Plato's phrases about faith during difficult times.

3. The best wealth is to be content living with little

Plato made a constant apology for humility.

4. Thinking is the dialogue of the soul with itself

From his dualistic perspective, mental life belongs to a plane of reality different from that of matter.

5. Music is to the soul what gymnastics is to the body.

One of the most poetic considerations about music.

6. Knowledge is the true opinion

Plato clarifies here what is the relationship between knowledge, linked to truth, and vulgar opinions.

7. The wise man will always want to be with those who are better than him.

One of the characteristics of wise people is that they surround themselves with people from whom they can learn, according to this philosopher.

8. It is not in men but in things that we must seek the truth

According to Plato's thought, truth is independent of opinions, it exists beyond what people believe..

9. Better a little that is well done, than a great deal that is imperfect

One of the "better quality than quantity" propositions.

10. The aim of education is virtue and the goal of becoming a good citizen.

In Plato's theories, education has a clear social function.

11. Civilization is the triumph of persuasion over force.

A way of understanding the origin of the organization of life proper to civilizations.

12. We are doubly armed if we fight with faith.

Faith understood as an empowering element.

13. Courage is to know what we should not fear.

A definition of courage centered on knowledge.

14. Vulgar souls lack destiny

Destiny can be seen as a path leading to a goal.

15. There are three kinds of men: lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of profit.

An original classification of types of people.

16. Love is to feel that the sacred being beats within the loved one.

This phrase of Plato on love reflects his theory of ideas, related to the concept of Platonic love.

17. Philosophy is the highest form that music can take.

Another of Plato's phrases based on a poetic definition.

18. A good decision is based on knowledge, not on numbers.

Knowledge goes beyond mathematics.

19. Ignorance is the seed of all evil.

For Plato, good and evil were equated with wisdom and ignorance.

20. He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.

A reflection on the need to accumulate experience.

21. States are like men, they are born of their own traits.

To anthropomorphize the States is one of the tendencies that Plato reflects in his ideas.

23. Man cannot practice several arts successfully.

A reflection on the limited capacities and scarce resources that people have.

24. Courage is a kind of salvation

The existence of courage can in itself serve to avoid undesirable situations.

25. If we seek the good of our fellow men, we will find our own good.

A simple moral guideline for doing good.

26. Wisdom becomes evil if it does not point to virtue.

What wisdom is used for also counts from an ethical perspective.

27. The larger stones cannot be set in place without the smaller ones.

A metaphor about hierarchies.

28. When it is the multitude that exercises authority, it is crueler than tyrants.

One of Plato's phrases about social behavior in crowds.

29. The beginning is the most important part of the journey

Getting started is in itself one of the major milestones on the road ahead.

30. Every tear shed reveals to mortals a truth.

Sadness and negative feelings are often caused by events that shock us and help us to better structure our ideas.

31. Good faith is the foundation of any society

One of Plato's phrases about the affections that hold society together.

32. True philosophers are those who enjoy contemplating the truth.

Philosophy consists in rising to the truth, according to Plato.

33. Honesty usually generates less profit than lies.

A bitter reflection on the consequences of being honest.

34. Poetry is closer to vital truth than history.

Poetry can also be close to knowledge.

35. Every man can harm someone, but not everyone can do good.

An apparent paradox pointed out by this philosopher.

36. The virtuous are content to dream what sinners realize in life.

Plato reflects on the need to lead a life of control over desires.

37. Wit is a lesser copy of wisdom.

Another of Plato's definitions, in this case he establishes a clear hierarchy between wisdom and wit..

38. Nothing in the affairs of man deserves much anxiety.

On the emotional implications of the banal problems of life on the earthly plane.

39. The best achievement of injustice is to appear to be just without being just

A reflection on injustice and the way in which it is masked.

40. If particulars have meaning, universals must exist.

Plato reflects on universal ideas, which are valid at any time and in any place, and their relation to particular ideas, which are true only in some contexts.

41. In contact with love, everyone becomes a poet.

One of Plato's phrases about love and its effects on people.

42. By learning to die, one learns to live better.

Plato speaks here about the philosophy of renunciation.

43. There must always be something that opposes good.

Good and evil are necessary in order to understand both concepts. If evil does not exist, neither can good exist.

44. The intelligent man speaks with authority when he directs his own life.

Assertiveness was one of the characteristics defended by this philosopher.

45. Freedom means to be masters of one's own life

A Platonic reflection on freedom.

46. Wisdom is, in itself, the science of all other sciences.

The phrase shows the relationship between wisdom and what in Plato's time could be considered science.

47. If you seek, you will find

One of Plato's most remembered phrases.

48. What I don't know, I don't think I know either

This philosopher attached great importance to the need for opinions to be well-founded.

49. Time is the image of eternity in motion.

An original conception of the nature of time.

50. When a man does not sacrifice himself for his ideas, either the ideas are worthless or the man is worthless.

An aphorism on the value of people and their principles.

51. There is only one kind of virtue, and many forms of evil.

A comparison that highlights this difference between virtue and evil.

52. Tyranny arises naturally out of democracy.

Plato believed that political participation through Athenian democracy contained the seeds of future tyrannies.

53. Consolation is cold and insipid if it is not wrapped up in a solution.

Words of consolation mean little by themselves.

54. Excessive accumulation of something causes a reaction in the opposite direction

An abstract idea that can be applied to a wide variety of situations.

55. Life has to be lived as a game

Plato speaks of a certain distance that must be maintained with respect to what happens in the material world, since it has little to do with the world of ideas in which, according to the philosopher, the world of ideas rested. has little to do with the world of ideas in which, according to the philosopher, truth rested..

56. Reason and courage will always prevail over tradition and ingratitude.

Plato sees with a certain determinism the struggle between reason and good against evil and superstition.

57. Young people must abstain from tasting wine, since it is a mistake to add fire to fire.

A reflection on the passionate and wayward nature of youth.

58. The man brutalized by superstition is the most despicable.

Superstition, being opposed to reason, is an element deeply despised by Plato.

59. Music gives soul to the universe

Another of Plato's phrases on music. In this case he relates it to the functioning of the cosmos.

60. Poverty does not come from the diminution of wealth, but from the multiplication of desires.

Another reflection on humility and its opposition to desires and banal needs.

61. It is difficult to distinguish the contours of the shadow of the lie.

The danger of the false is that it is easy to pass itself off as what it is not.

62. Our struggle is to find the right way to do things.

Plato was strongly moralistic, and believed that there is one way of acting that is in itself superior to all others.

63. A strong moral conscience is necessary to know the truth.

This philosopher related ethics to epistemology.

64. To arrive at the truth, fears must first be expelled.

One cannot arrive at the truth if there are hidden interests.

65. Once one has begun to know, it is impossible not to surrender to the idea of seeing things as they are.

Truth attracts inquiries.

66. There is little truth in the words of someone who knows only what he has touched.

Plato was fundamentally rationalistic, and valued introspection more than empiricism.

67. The strongest men are those who have asked themselves what reality is like.

Once again, Plato traces a relationship between morality and knowledge.

68. It is necessary to expel the demons of lies

Another of Plato's phrases on the deceptions of the false.

69. We must build a society in which everyone does what he is best at.

Plato developed a political ideal based on segregation and elitism..

70. To be wise requires time and effort, but above all honesty.

Honesty is necessary to start from true and objective foundations, for Plato.

71. Knowledge must be shared

Truth must be shared, as a moral mandate.

72. To be aware of what really happens produces pain

Since truth is independent of us, what it contains often causes discomfort.

73. There is nothing that escapes the perfection of ideas.

As an idealist, Plato believed that all reality is fundamentally composed of universals.

74. The object is an imperfect copy of what is really there.

The material, for Plato, is a delusion.

75. Let us retrace our steps to arrive at the foundation of reason.

According to this philosopher, one must start from solid theoretical foundations in order to think well.

76. It is good to approach things with a clear mind.

It is necessary to start from honesty and humility to do philosophy.

77. There is more truth in geometry than in any promise.

In a similar way to the Pythagoreans, Plato extolled the truth of mathematicsbecause its statements do not depend on the context.

78. The wise man is aware that the key is in the questions.

A phrase reminiscent of Socrates' approach to philosophical dialogue.

79. Thinking without gaps is necessary to build sources of knowledge.

A metaphorical way of saying that truth has no imperfections, according to Plato.

80. An entire explanation of the world exists beyond us.

Truth exists even if we do not discover it.