50+ Plato Quotes to Inspire Your Life Philosophy

Last Updated: 25 Mar 2025

Plato, a great Greek philosopher whose ideas continue to inspire people today. His quotes are not merely a collection of words but encompass the deep truths and wisdom of life. He wove knowledge, justice, love, politics, and the reality of life into his words in such a way that every generation can learn from them. He believed that a society would only progress when people embraced not just information but also wisdom and justice.

“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”
― Plato

“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”
― Plato

“All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince.”
― Plato

“All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.”
― Plato

“As the builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser.”
― Plato

“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.”
― Plato

“At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.”
― Plato

“Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance.”
― Plato

“Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.”
― Plato

“Courage is a kind of salvation.”
― Plato

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”
― Plato

“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.”
― Plato

“Democracy passes into despotism.”
― Plato

“Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.”
― Plato

“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.”
― Plato

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
― Plato

“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.”
― Plato

“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”
― Plato

“He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.”
― Plato

“Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.”
― Plato

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.”
― Plato

“If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.”
― Plato

“Ignorance of all things is an evil neither terrible nor excessive, nor yet the greatest of all; but great cleverness and much learning, if they be accompanied by a bad training, are a much greater misfortune.”
― Plato

“Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”
― Plato

“Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns.”
― Plato

“Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.”
― Plato

“Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.”
― Plato

“Love is a serious mental disease.”
― Plato

“Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods.”
― Plato

“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.”
― Plato

“Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.”
― Plato

“Necessity... the mother of invention.”
― Plato

“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.”
― Plato

“Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.”
― Plato

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
― Plato

“Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.”
― Plato

“People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.”
― Plato

“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”
― Plato

“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.”
― Plato

“Science is nothing but perception.”
― Plato

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”
― Plato

“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.”
― Plato

“The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.”
― Plato

“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.”
― Plato

“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
― Plato

“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”
― Plato

“There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.”
― Plato

“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.”
― Plato

“There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.”
― Plato

“Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.”
― Plato

“This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.”
― Plato

“This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are.”
― Plato

“To be sure I must; and therefore I may assume that your silence gives consent.”
― Plato

“To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less.”
― Plato

“We are twice armed if we fight with faith.”
― Plato

“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.”
― Plato

“When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.”
― Plato

“When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.”
― Plato

Plato's timeless ideas continue to inspire us to choose the right path in life. Whether it's politics, a way of living, or personal development, his quotes are significant in every area. His thinking emphasizes that merely acquiring knowledge is not enough; one must also know how to use it correctly. This is why his ideas remain relevant today and compel every generation to think from new perspectives.