I have to hand it to these dudes. Well before Christ, they spoke the truth like no other then and since. They had a handle on civilization and society that if followed by all, would have possibly prevented much of human misery since their times. That's not to say they didn't say some things that wouldn't be accepted in today's society. But their overall philosophies of life still hold true.
Socrates - 469 BC - 399 BC
Classical Greek Philosopher - credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is mostly known thru the writings of his students, most notably Plato.
Plato - 428 BC - 348 BC
Classical Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, mentored by Socrates and teacher of Aristotle.
Aristotle - 384 BC - 322 BC
Classical Greek Philosopher, student of Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great.
How is it that lessons of life, learned and documented over the course of centuries over two milliniem ago, still go unheeded by so many? Why does mankind still fight wars, discriminate against people who are different, fail to understand the importance of education, and allow governments to rule with unfettered power?
I find it amazing to read these quotes by people who lived that long ago. They are as prescient today as then. It shows that the human mind was just as capable 2400 years ago as it is today. It also shows how mankind has yet to harness the lessons learned long ago.
SOCRATES:
"Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others."
(Like um, TORTURE!)
"Envy is the ulcer of the soul."
"If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it."
"Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity."
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."
"I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world."
"Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires. All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth; and the reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service."
"Nothing is to be preferred before justice."
"By all means marry. If you get a good wife you will become happy, and if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher."
(LOL! He was a funny dude too.)
"True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us."
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for."
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."
"All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue."
"And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul."
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
"Courage is knowing what not to fear."
"Democracy passes into despotism."
"Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty."
"Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments."
"Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery."
"Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil."
"Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens."
"Man - a being in search of meaning."
"Necessity... the mother of invention."
"No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding"
"No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education."
"No one ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern."
"Nothing can be more absurd than the practice that prevails in our country of men and women not following the same pursuits with all their strengths and with one mind, for thus, the state instead of being whole is reduced to half."
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferior."
"Only the dead have seen the end of the war."
"The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles."
"The measure of a man is what he does with power."
(Here's your chance, President Obama!)
"Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy."
"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."
"When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income."
"Your silence gives consent."
ARISTOTLE:
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
"Man perfected by society is the best of all animals; he is the most terrible of all when he lives without law, and without justice."
"The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law."
"It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen."
"Liars when they speak the truth are not believed."
"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies."
"Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered."
"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."
"Man is by nature a political animal."
"The basis of a democratic state is liberty."