4th century BC

Explore 108 quotes from the 4th century BC

The city in which those who are to rule are least eager to hold office must needs be the best governed and freest from strife.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

Buy the Republic at Amazon Buy the Republic at Amazon
Read the Republic at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Political ambition Political theory Politics

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Republic

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

Therefore, the good of man must be the goal of the science of politics.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon
Read the Nicomachean Ethics at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Political science Purpose of politics Politics

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019, bk. 1.

Socrates, he says, breaks the law by corrupting young men and not recognizing the gods that the city recognizes, but some other new deities.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

Buy the Apology at Amazon Buy the Apology at Amazon
Read the Apology at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Bad influences

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Accusation

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.

Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

Buy the Republic at Amazon Buy the Republic at Amazon
Read the Republic at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory Philosophers Government Political philosophy Politics

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Republic

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think that we know what we do not know.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

Buy the Apology at Amazon Buy the Apology at Amazon
Read the Apology at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Fear of death The unknown Ignorance Death The afterlife

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.

The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

Buy the Republic at Amazon Buy the Republic at Amazon
Read the Republic at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Tyranny Decline of democracy

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Republic

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedo, by Plato

Buy Phaedo at Amazon Buy Phaedo at Amazon
Read Phaedo at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Consequences of lying Lying

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Phaedo

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

360 BC 360s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Φαίδων [Phaedo], written by Plato. c. 360 BC.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in "Phaedo." Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, written by Plato, translated by G. M. A. Grube and John M. Cooper. Hackett Publishing, 2002.

The country places and the trees won't teach me anything, and the people in the city do.

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedrus, by Plato

Buy Phaedrus at Amazon Buy Phaedrus at Amazon
Read Phaedrus at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Rural vs. urban Cities

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Phaedrus

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

370 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Φαῖδρος [Phaedrus], written by Plato. c. 370 BC.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in "Phaedrus." Plato: Lysis; Symposium; Phaedrus, written by Plato, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2022.

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

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

Buy the Republic at Amazon Buy the Republic at Amazon
Read the Republic at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Tyrants Political theory

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Republic

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

Virtue does not come from money, but from virtue comes money and all other good things to man, both to the individual and to the state.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

Buy the Apology at Amazon Buy the Apology at Amazon
Read the Apology at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Virtue Money

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.

Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.

Aristotle

Politics

Buy Politics at Amazon Buy Politics at Amazon
Read Politics at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Legal theory Law

Author

Aristotle

Source

Politics

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Politics. 4th century BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

One might perhaps say that this very thing is probable, that many things happen to men that are not probable.

Agathon

Quoted in Rhetoric, by Aristotle

Buy Rhetoric at Amazon Buy Rhetoric at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Probability The human condition

Speaker

Agathon

Author

Aristotle

Source

Rhetoric

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Irony Paradox

Language

Greek

Time

4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Ῥητορική [Rhetoric], written by Aristotle. c. 350 BC.

Current Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Rhetoric, written by Aristotle, translated by W. Rhys Roberts. Dover Publications, 2004.

The partisan, when he is engaged in a dispute, cares nothing about the rights of the question, but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions.

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedo, by Plato

Buy Phaedo at Amazon Buy Phaedo at Amazon
Read Phaedo at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Sophistry Hackery Persuasion

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Phaedo

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

360 BC 360s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Φαίδων [Phaedo], written by Plato. c. 360 BC.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in "Phaedo." Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, written by Plato, translated by G. M. A. Grube and John M. Cooper. Hackett Publishing, 2002.

Will you not allow that I have as much of the spirit of prophecy in me as the swans? For they, when they perceive that they must die, having sung all their life long, do then sing more lustily than ever, rejoicing in the thought that they are going to the god they serve.

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedo, by Plato

Buy Phaedo at Amazon Buy Phaedo at Amazon
Read Phaedo at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Facing death Swans Birds Animals

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Phaedo

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

360 BC 360s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Φαίδων [Phaedo], written by Plato. c. 360 BC.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in "Phaedo." Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, written by Plato, translated by G. M. A. Grube and John M. Cooper. Hackett Publishing, 2002.

Socrates is a wrongdoer because he corrupts the youth and does not believe in the gods the state believes in, but in other new spiritual beings.

Plato

Apology

Buy the Apology at Amazon Buy the Apology at Amazon
Read the Apology at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Legal charge

Language

Greek

Time

339 BC 330s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. c. 339 BC, sect. 24b-24c.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, translated by John M. Cooper and G. M. A. Grube. Hackett Publishing Company, 2002, sect. 24b-24c.

The sea! the sea!

Xenophon

Anabasis

Greek soldiers, upon seeing the Black Sea for the first time as they returned from war in Persia.

Buy Anabasis at Amazon Buy Anabasis at Amazon
Read the Anabasis at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Ocean and sea Homecoming

Author

Xenophon

Source

Anabasis

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

370 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Xenophon. Anabasis. c. 370 BC, bk. 4, ch. 7, sect. 24.

Current Citation

Xenophon. The Landmark Xenophon's Anabasis, translated by David Thomas, edited by Shand Brennan and David Thomas. Pantheon, 2021, bk. 4, ch. 7, sect. 24.

The good of man is the active exercise of his soul's faculties in conformity with excellence or virtue... Moreover this activity must occupy a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day; and similarly one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon
Read the Nicomachean Ethics at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Purpose of life Incremental improvement Self-improvement Personal growth

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019, bk. 1.

My child, you are still young, and time as it advances [888b] will cause you to reverse many of the opinions you now hold: so wait till then before pronouncing judgment on matters of most grave importance; and of these the gravest of all—though at present you regard it as naught—is the question of holding a right view about the gods and so living well, or the opposite.

Plato

Laws

Buy Plato's Laws at Amazon Buy Plato's Laws at Amazon
Read Laws at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Belief in God How to live

Author

Plato

Source

Laws

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

346 BC 340s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Νόμοι [Laws]. c. 346 BC, bk. 10.

Current Citation

Plato. Laws, translated by Tom Griffith, edited by Malcolm Schofield. Cambridge University Press, 2016, bk. 10.

Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon
Read the Nicomachean Ethics at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Habits Virtue Self-improvement Personal growth Human nature

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019, bk. 2.

Either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if death be of such a nature, I say that to die is to gain; for eternity is then only a single night.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

Buy the Apology at Amazon Buy the Apology at Amazon
Read the Apology at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

The unknown Death The afterlife

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

339 BC 330s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.