6 Quotes by Socrates That Will Challenge Your Thinking
‘I know that I know nothing.’
Socrates is one of the founders of western philosophy. Born in Athens in 470 BC, his teachings are as relevant today as they were in the heady days of Greece.
What’s remarkable about Socrates is that he wrote no texts while he was alive. What we know about Socrates comes from the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon, two of his students.
These dialogues form the basis of Socrates’ philosophy. One of the key components of this is the Socratic method. This consists of breaking down a problem into a series of questions, with the responses providing the answer the person seeks.
Socrates didn’t leave behind any written texts. This makes it hard to know whether the words are his or Plato and Xenophon’s. They may be using Socrates as a device to push their own narrative instead of reflecting their teacher's actual thoughts.
Regardless, the written texts depicting Socrates are part of the building blocks of western thought. It’s hard to think of another philosopher who’s had so much influence on society and has been dead for as long as he has.
The irony of Socrates’ longevity is he was put on trial by the authorities in Athens for corrupting the youth. Convicted of the charge, he was…
