4th century BC

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For if liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.

Aristotle

Politics

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

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Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 4.

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The great man is the one who does not lose his [originally good] child's heart.

Mencius

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Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 4.

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Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 4.

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Let us now suppose that in the mind of each man there is an aviary of all sorts of birds-some flocking together apart from the rest, others in small groups, others solitary, flying anywhere and everywhere... We may suppose that the birds are kinds of knowledge, and that when we were children, the receptacle was empty; whenever a man has gotten and detained in the enclosure a kind of knowledge, he may be said to have learned or discovered the thing which is the subject of the knowledge: and this is to know.

Socrates

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Socrates. Quoted in Θεαίτητος [Theaetetus], written by Plato. c. 369 BC.

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Socrates. Quoted in Theaetetus, written by Plato, translated by John McDowell. Oxford University Press, 2014.

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The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards.

Mencius

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Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 6.

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Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 6.

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Everything flows and nothing stays.

Heraclitus

Quoted in Cratylus, by Plato

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Heraclitus. Quoted in Κρατύλος [Cratylus], by Plato. c. 348 BC, sect. 402a.

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Heraclitus. Quoted in Craylus, by Plato. Aeterna Press, 2015, sect. 402a.

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When a pair of magpies fly together
They do not envy the pair of phoenixes.

Lady Ho

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Lady Ho. A Song of Magpies. c. 300 BC.

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Lady Ho. "A Song of Magpies." Women Poets of China, edited by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Zhong. New Directions Publishing, 1982.

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I would have you imagine, then, that there exists in the mind of man a block of wax, which is of different sizes in different men; harder, moister, and having more or less of purity in one than another, and in some of an intermediate quality... Let us say that this tablet is a gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses; and that when we wish to remember anything which we have seen, or heard, or thought in our own minds, we hold the wax to the perceptions and thoughts, and in that material receive the impression of them as from the seal of a ring; and that we remember and know what is imprinted as long as the image lasts; but when the image is effaced, or cannot be taken, then we forget and do not know.

Socrates

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Socrates. Quoted in Θεαίτητος [Theaetetus], written by Plato. c. 369 BC.

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Socrates. Quoted in Theaetetus, written by Plato, translated by John McDowell. Oxford University Press, 2014.

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The root of the kingdom is the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head.

Mencius

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Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 4.

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Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 4.

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The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.

Democritus

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Democritus. c. 370 BC, fragment 198.

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There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.

Hippocrates

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Hippocrates. The Law. c. 4th century BC, pt. 4.

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Hippocrates. "Canon." Hippocratic Writings, translated by J. Chadwick and W. N. Mann, et al. Penguin Classics, 1984.

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As to diseases make a habit of two things-to help, or at least, to do no harm.

Hippocrates

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Hippocrates. Epidemics I. c. 4th century BC, second constitution, pt. 11.

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Hippocrates. "Epidemics I." Hippocratic Writings, translated by J. Chadwick and W. N. Mann, et al. Penguin Classics, 1984, second constitution, pt. 11.

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The soul of man is immortal and imperishable.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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

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

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But already it is time to depart, for me to die, for you to go on living; which of us takes the better course, is not known to anyone except God.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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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.

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

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When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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

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

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Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedo, by Plato

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

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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.

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What is the prime of life? May it not be defined as a period of about twenty years in a woman's life, and thirty in a man's?

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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

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

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In revolutions the occasions may be trifling but great interests are at stake.

Aristotle

Politics

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Aristotle. Politics. 4th century BC, bk. 5.

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Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 5.

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Man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door of his prison and run away…a man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him.

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedo, by Plato

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

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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.

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Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal and equals that they might be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions.

Aristotle

Politics

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Aristotle. Politics. 4th century BC, bk. 5.

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Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 5.

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If you were prepared to let me go on those terms, I should reply to you as follows: "I have the greatest fondness and affection for you, fellow Athenians, but I will obey my god rather than you."

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

On his unwillingness to give up practicing philosophy.

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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.

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

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