“To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know.”

It is not difficult to avoid death, gentlemen of the jury; it is much more difficult to avoid wickedness, for it runs faster than death.

A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.

There is no greater evil one can suffer than to hate reasonable discourse.

Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire; the other is to get it.

To express oneself badly is not only faulty as far as the language goes, but does some harm to the soul.

Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.

The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.

A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

It is better to change an opinion than to persist in a wrong one.

When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it.

Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they’re fools, and fools who think they are wise.

Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively.

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.

What I fear most, I think, is the death of the imagination.

Death is what men want when the anguish of living is more than they can bear.

The only transformer and alchemist that turns everything into gold is love. The only magic against death, aging, ordinary life, is love.

Nature is unsentimental. Death is built in.

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death!

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.