A
Ability. You have already admitted that he who is false must have the ability to be false: you said that he who is unable to be false will not be false. — Lesser Hippias, 367.
Above and Below. If a person were to go round the universe in a circle, he would often, when standing at the antipodes, speak of the same point as above and below; but to speak of the whole which is in the form of a globe as having one part above and another below is not like a sensible man. — Timaeus, 63.
Absolute. There is an absolute beauty and an absolute good, and of other things to which the term “many” is applied there is an absolute; for they may be brought under a single idea, which is called the essence of each. — Republic, VI, 507.
Tell me, whether there is or is not any absolute beauty or good or any other absolute existence? — Cratylus, 439.
Those who see the many beautiful, and who yet neither see absolute beauty, nor can follow any guide who points the way thither; who see the many just, and not absolute justice, and the like — such persons may be said to have concrete, but no abstract knowledge. — Republic, VI, 479.
Abstention. They are willing to abstain from the pleasures of love for the sake of a victory in wrestling, running, and the like; and shall our young men be incapable of a similar endurance for the sake of a much nobler — moral — victory, which is the noblest of all? Will not the fear of impiety enable them to master that which inferior people have mastered? — Laws, VIII, 840.
Abstract Art. I do not mean by the beauty of form such beauty as that of animals or pictures, which the many would suppose to be my meaning; but understand me to mean straight lines and circles, and the plane and solid figures which are formed out of them by turning lathes and rulers and measures of angles; for these I affirm to be not only relatively beautiful, like other works of art, but they are eternally and abstractly beautiful. — Philebus, 51.
Abstraction. Such abstraction [thinking of the spiritual apart from the material] is the lifelong study of the soul. — Phaedo, 80.
Abuse. The abuse of a thing brings discredit on its lawful use. — Symposium, 182.
Accounting. He who transgresses the laws is to be called to account, which is a term used not only in your country, but also in many others. — Protagoras, 326.
Accurate. To learn all these things accurately would be very tiresome. — Euthyphro, 14.
Accusers. The hardest of all — the names of my accusers I do not know and cannot tell. — Apology, 18.
Acheron. In the opposite direction flows Acheron, which passes under the earth through desert places. — Phaedo, 112.
Achilles. I cannot allow our citizens to believe that Achilles, the son of a goddess [Thetis] and of Leleus who was the gentlest of men and third in descent from Zeus, was so disordered in his wits as to have been at one time affected with overweening contempt of gods and men. — Republic, III, 391.
Achilles was quite aware, for he had been told by his mother, that he might avoid death and return home, and live to a good old age, if he abstained from slaying Hector. Nevertheless he gave his life to revenge his lover Patroclus. — Symposium, 180.
Acquisitive. Next follows the whole class of learning and cognition, together with trade, fighting, hunting; since none of these produces anything, but is only engaged in conquering by word and deed, or in preventing others from conquering, things which exist and have been already produced — in each and all of these branches there appears to be an art which may be called acquisitive. — Sophist, 219.
Acquittal. The law says that when a man is acquitted he is free from guilt, and what holds at law may hold in argument. — Republic, V, 451.
Action. I suppose that we begin to act when we think that we know what we are doing? — First Alcibiades, 117.
There is the kind of actions done by violence and in the light of day, and another kind of actions which are done in darkness and with secret deceit, or sometimes both with violence and deceit. — Laws, IX, 864.
All his actions should be with a view to justice. — Gorgias, 527.
All our actions are to be done for the sake of the good. — Gorgias, 500.
Our actions have life, and there is much virtue in them and much vice. — Laws, X, 904.
Actions vary according to the manner of their performance. Take, for instance, that which we are now doing, drinking, singing, and talking; these actions are not in themselves either good or evil, but turn out in this or that way according to the mode of performing them; and when well done they are good, and when wrongly done they are evil; and in like manner not every love, but only that which has a noble purpose, is noble and worthy of praise. — Symposium, 181.
Are not actions also a class of being? — Yes, actions are real as well as things. — Cratylus, 386.
Actor. The same men cannot be actors for tragedies and comedies. — Republic, III, 395.
Actual. We are to look at the ideals of absolute justice and the character of the perfectly just in order that we might judge of our own happiness according to the standard which they exhibit and the degree in which we resemble them, but not with any view of showing that they could be realized in fact. Must not the actual always fall short of the ideal? Then you must not insist on my proving that the actual state will in every respect coincide with the ideal: if we are only able to discover how a city may be governed nearly as we proposed, you will admit that we have discovered the possibility which you demand; and will be contented. — Republic, V, 472, 473.
Administration. In the administration of the state, man will benefit his friends and damage his enemies. — Meno, 71.
Admission. Such an open admission appears to me to be a better sort of precaution than concealment. — Protagoras, 317.
Admonition. There is the time-honored mode which our fathers commonly practiced towards their sons, and which is still adopted by many — either of roughly reproving their errors, or of gently advising them, which may be called by the general term of admonition. — Sophist, 230.
Adoption. If any citizen is willing to adopt a son who is put away, no law shall hinder him. — Laws, XI, 929.
Adultery. Do you believe that he who bribes his neighbor’s wife and commits adultery with her, acts justly or unjustly? — Unjustly. — Eryxias, 396.
Adulterers are generally of the lascivious breed. — Symposium, 191.
Advance. Unless we can protect our retreat, we shall pay the penalty of our advance. — Theaetetus, 181.
Advantage. If they give everything and we give nothing, that must be an affair of business in which we have very greatly the advantage of them. — Euthyphro, 15.
We do not simply kill a man or exile him or expropriate him for the sake of these acts, but because they are conducive to our advantage. — Gorgias, 468.
Advice. My advice is simple in appearance but difficult to understand. — Letter XI, 359.
I will not give advice to a man who either does not ask for it, or demonstrates distinctly that there is not the least probability of his taking it. — Letter VII, 331.
I do advise a man with all my heart if he will probably listen to my counsel, or if he has at least fairly well regulated his daily habits. — Letter VII, 331.
Adviser. There are not many advisers of the young. — Letter V, 321.
I consider an adviser as a coward, who gives counsel to men who have relinquished the right path of governments, and tolerate only such an adviser who caters to their wishes by showing them the quickest and easiest way to satisfy them. — Letter VII, 331.
Some laugh at the very notion of advising others, and when they are asked for counsel will not say what they think. They guess at the wishes of the person who asks them, and answer according to the inquirer’s, and not according to their own, opinion. — Laches, 178.
Advocate of Justice. There are many noble things in human life, but to most of them attach evils which corrupt and spoil them. Has not justice been the civilizer of humanity, and is not that noble? And must not the advocate of justice be also noble? And yet upon this has come an evil reputation, shielded under the fair name of art. — Laws, XI, 937.
Aesop. If Aesop had noticed them, he would have made a fable. — Phaedo. 60.
Affairs. The fact that attending to one’s own affairs is most pleasant in life, is obvious almost to anyone. — Letter IX, 358.
Affirmation. We know that in discourse there is affirmation and denial. — Sophist, 263.
Agamemnon. Agamemnon chose the life of an eagle, because he hated human nature by reason of his sufferings. — Republic, X, 620.
Age. When a man has reached old age he ought not to be repining at the prospect of death. — Crito, 43.
At our age, there should be no feeling of irritation. — Laws, I, 634.
At his age, he can hardly be expected to understand. — Charmides, 162.
The middle age of man is a breathing spell in the miseries of life. — Epinomis, 974.
He arrived at middle age, the adjusted period of life. — Letter III, 316.
He is just of an age at which he will like to talk. — Charmides, 154.
The truth is that these regrets, and also the complaints about relations, are to be attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men’s characters and tempers; for he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden. — Republic, I, 329.
There is nothing which I like better than conversing with aged men; for I regard them as travelers who have made a journey which I too may have to make, and of whom I ought to inquire whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged and difficult. — Republic, I, 328.
The young men in the state often give honors to the aged. — Laws, IV, 721.
Is life hard towards the end? — Republic, I, 328.
Agent. The agent is the same as the cause, and the same may be said of the patient or effect. — Philebus, 26, 27.
Agility. In all bodily actions, not quietness, but the greatest agility and quickness, is noblest and best. — Charmides, 159.
Aggravation. I do but aggravate a disorder which I am seeking to cure. — Protagoras, 340.
Agitation. When someone applies external agitation to affectations of anxiety, the rocking motion coming from without gets the better of the terrible and violent internal one, and produces a peace and calm in the soul, and quiets the restless palpitation of the heart, which is a thing much to be desired, sending some to sleep, and making others who are awake to dance to the pipe, and producing in them a sound mind, which takes the place of their former agitation. And in this is a considerable degree of sense. — Laws, VII, 790, 791.
Agreement. If my opponent says anything which is convincing, I shall be the first to agree with him. — Gorgias, 506.
You cannot have been led to agree with me, either from lack of knowledge or from superfluity of modesty, nor from a desire to deceive me, for you are my friend. — Gorgias, 487.
Everyone is aware that about some things we agree, whereas about other things we differ. When one speaks of iron or silver, is not the same thing present in the minds of all? But when one speaks of justice and goodness, there is every sort of disagreement, and we are at odds with one another and with ourselves. — Phaedrus, 263.
If you ask anyone about the nature of wood and stone are the many not agreed? But are the many agreed with themselves, or with one another, about the justice or injustice of men? — First Alcibiades, 111, 112.
Ought a man fulfill his agreement he admits to be right, or ought he to break it? — Crito, 49.
Agriculture. After this they came together in greater numbers, and increased the size of their cities, and betook themselves to agriculture, first of all at the foot of the mountains, and made enclosures of loose walls and works of defense, in order to keep off wild beasts; thus creating a single large and common habitation. — Laws, III, 681.
The production of barley and wheat and the preparing of food from them, excellent crafts though they are, will not make a man fully wise — why, the very word produce might tend to cause a certain repugnance to the product — and the same thing is true of all farming. — Epinomis, 975.
Air. There are differences in the air, of which the brightest part is called ether, as the most turbid sort of air is called mist. — Timaeus, 58.
Ajax. Ajax could not be wounded by steel. — Symposium, 219.
The soul which obtained the twentieth lot chose the life of a lion, and this was the soul of Ajax the son of Telamon, who would not be a man, remembering the injustice which was done him in the judgment about the arms. — Republic, X, 620.
Alcestis. Love will make men dare to die for their beloved; and women as well as men. Of this, Alcestis the daughter of Pelias is a monument to all Hellas; for she was willing to lay down her life on behalf of her husband, when no one else would, although he had a father and mother; but the tenderness of her love so far exceeded theirs, that they seemed to be as strangers to their own son, having no concern with him; and so noble did this action of hers appear, not only to men but also to the gods, that among the many who have done virtuously she was one of the very few to whom the gods have granted the privilege of returning to earth, in admiration of her virtue; such exceeding honor is paid by them to the devotion and virtue of love. — Symposium, 179.
Alcibiades. I know that you have been in chase of the fair Alcibiades. — Protagoras, 309.
Alien. Any alien who likes may come and be resident on certain conditions; a foreigner, if he likes, and is able to settle, may dwell in the land, but he must practice a craft, and not abide more than twenty years from the time at which he has registered himself. And he shall pay no sojourner’s tax however small, except good conduct, nor any other tax for buying and selling. — Laws, VII, 850.
Alike. Things which are alike in some particular ought not to be called alike, nor things which are unlike in some particular, however slight, unlike. — Protagoras, 331.
There is always some point of veiw in which everything is like every other thing; white is in a certain way like black, and hard is like soft, and the most extreme opposites have some qualities in common. — Protagoras, 331.
Have I not heard someone say that the like is the greatest enemy of the like, the good of the good? — and in fact he quoted the authority of Hesiod, who says, “That potter quarrels with potter, bard with bard, beggar with beggar”; and of all other things he also says, “That of necessity the most like are most full of envy, strife, and hatred of one another, and the most unlike of friendship. For the poor man is compelled to be the friend of the rich, and the weak requires the aid of the strong, and the sick man of the physician; everyone who knows not has to love and court him who knows.” — Lysis, 215.
Allegory. The narrative of Hephaestus binding Hera his mother, or how on another occasion Zeus sent him flying for taking her part when she was being beaten, and all the battles of the gods in Homer — these tales must not be admitted into our state, either wrought in allegory or without allegory. For a young person cannot judge what is allegorical and what is literal; anything that he receives into his mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the stories which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts. — Republic, II, 378.
Alliances. In what sort of actions is the just man most able to do his friends good? — In making alliances with them. — Republic, I, 332.
Amateurs. Musical amateurs run about at the Dionysiac festivals as if their ears were under an engagement to hear every chorus; whether the performance is in town or country — that makes no difference — they are there. — Republic, V, 475.
Amatory Art. To lavish gifts on those we hunt is the amatory art. — Sophist, 222.
Ambassador. If any herald or ambassador carry a false message to any other city, or bring back a false message, let him be indicted for having offended the laws, and let there be a penalty fixed, which he shall suffer or pay if he be convicted. — Laws, XII, 941.
Ambiguity. Ambiguity of words causes difficulty and obscurity. — Laws, VIII, 837.
I thought that I must be plain with him and have no more ambiguity. — Symposium, 218.
Ambition. When his ambition is once fired, he will go on to learn. — Laches, 182.
If they leave philosophy and lead the lower life of ambition, then, probably in the dark or in some other careless hour, the two wanton animals take the two souls when off their guard and bring them together, and they accomplish that desire of their hearts which to the many is bliss; and this having once enjoyed they continue to enjoy, yet rarely because they have not the approval of the whole soul. — Phaedrus, 256.
Amending. I will amend the definition. — Euthyphro, 9.
Amoral. Wood, stones, and the like — these are things which are neither good nor evil; they are morally indifferent or amoral things. — Gorgias, 468.
There are some things which are amoral: neither good nor evil. — Protagoras, 351.
Amphibious. He is one of an amphibious class — one of those whom Prodicus describes as on the border ground between philosophers and statesmen — they think that they are the wisest of all men. Nothing but the rivalry of the philosophers stands in their way. They are of the opinion that if they can prove the philosophers to be good for nothing, no one will dispute their title to the palm of wisdom.... The amphibious class of thinkers have a certain amount of philosophy, and a certain amount of political wisdom; there is reason in what they say, for they argue that they have just enough of both, while they keep out of the way of all risks and conflicts (of true philosophy). — Euthydemus, 305.
Amusement. Persons should put forth problems to one another, passing their time in an amusement far more agreeable and worthy of elderly men than the game of draughts. — Laws, VII, 820.
Anacreon. Anacreon the wise! — Phaedrus, 235.
Anarchy. From youth upwards we ought to practice this habit of commanding others; anarchy should have no place in the life of man or of the beasts who are subject to man. — Laws, XII, 942.
Anaxagoras. I heard someone who had a book of Anaxagoras, out of which he read that mind was the disposer and cause of all, and I was quite delighted at the notion of this, which appeared admirable. — Phaedo, 97.
Ancestor. Truly, the figure of an ancestor is a wonderful thing. For when they are honored by us, they join in our prayers, and when they are dishonored, they utter imprecations against us. And so the man who conducts himself as he ought to father and grandfather and other aged relations, will have the best of all images which can procure him the favor of the gods. — Laws, XI, 931.
Having such ancestors you ought to be first in all things. — Charmides, 158.
Ancients. The ancients were our betters and nearer the gods than we are. — Philebus, 16.
Anger. Anger differs from desires, and is sometimes at war with them. — Republic, IV, 440.
Nursing up his wrath by the entertainment of evil thoughts, and exacerbating that part of his soul which was formerly civilized by education, he lives now in a state of savageness and moroseness, and pays thus a bitter penalty for his anger. And in such a case almost all men have a way of saying something ridiculous about their opponent. — Laws, XI, 935.
An angry man turns all kinds of color. — Letter VII, 349.
Angler. The angler is familiar to all of us, and not a very interesting or important person. — Sophist, 218.
Animal, Potitical. An idiot may know that the political animal is a pedestrian — you will allow that? — Certainly. — Statesman, 264.
Animals. All animals are divided into tame and wild. — Statesman, 264.
There are two species of animals; man being one, and all other animals making up the other. — Statesman, 263.
The wild pedestrian animals originated from those men who had no philosophy in all their thoughts, and never meditated at all about the nature of the heavens, because they had ceased to use the courses of the head, and followed the guidance of those parts of the soul which surround the breast. — Timaeus, 91.
Answer. I gave him a true answer. And if my questioner were a philosopher of the quarrelsome and antagonistic sort, I should say to him: “You have my answer, and if I am wrong, it is your business to take up the argument and refute me.” But if he were a friendly person, my answer should be in a milder strain and more explanatory; that is to say, I should not only speak the truth, but I should also make use of premises which the questioner would be willing to admit. — Meno, 75.
I remark with surprise that you have not answered what I asked. — Euthyphro, 8.
How am I to shorten my answers? Shall I make them too short? — Protagoras, 334.
If you will not answer for yourself I must answer for you. — Gorgias, 515.
That is very like a true, but not a sufficient answer. — Protagoras, 312.
His approving answers reassured me. — Charmides, 156.
Answer like a man what you think. — Theaetetus, 157.
He is at home in answering. — Euthydemus, 275.
He has taught you the habit of answering questions in a grand and bold style. — Meno, 70.
Anticipation. There is an anticipatory pleasure or pain, and this has to do with the future. — Philebus, 39.
Antiquity. The legislator must somehow find a way of implanting reverence for antiquity. — Laws, VII, 798.
Antiquity, Inquiry Into. They themselves and their children were for many generations in want of the necessaries of life; they therefore directed their attention to the supply of their wants, and of that they discoursed, to the neglect of events that had happened in times long passed; mythology and the inquiry into antiquity are introduced into cities when they have leisure, and when they see the necessaries of life already beginning to be provided, but not before. — Critias, 109, 110.
Anxiety, Parental. There is a sort of madness in many of our anxieties about our children: in the first place, about marrying a wife of good family to be the mother of them, and then about heaping up money for them — and yet taking no care about their education. — Euthydemus, 306.
Anytus. Anytus has a quarrel with me [Socrates] on behalf of the craftsmen and politicians. — Apology, 23.
Aphrodite. There are two goddesses. The elder one, having no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite — she is the daughter of Uranus; the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, whom we call the earthly Aphrodite. — Symposium, 180. Vide Eros, Love.
Apparel. Care should be taken not to destroy the natural qualities of the head and the feet by covering them with extraneous apparel, and so hindering their natural growth of hair and soles. — Laws, XII, 942.
Appeal, Divine. One should always appeal to the gods when one starts to reflect. — Letter VIII, 353.
Appeal, Legal. He who goes to law with another, should go first of all to his neighbors and friends who know best the question at issue. And if he be unable to obtain from them a satisfactory decision, let him make an appeal to another court. — Laws, 767.
Appearance. Would the art of measuring be the saving principle, or would the power of appearance? Is not the latter that deceiving art which makes us wander up and down and take the things at one time of which we repent at another? But the art of measurement is that which would do away with the effect of appearances, and, showing the truth, would fain teach the soul at last to find rest in the truth, and would thus save our life. — Protagoras, 356.
In all these cases the theory of the truth of deceiving perception is unmistakably refuted, as in dreams and illusions we certainly have false perceptions; and far from saying that everything is which appears, we must rather say that nothing is which only appears. — Theaetetus, 157, 158.
To the sick man his food appears to be and is bitter, and to the man in health the opposite. — Theaetetus, 166.
Are you certain that the colors appear to every animal — say to a dog — as they appear to you? Or that anything appears the same to you as to another man? Would you not rather question whether you yourself see the same thing at different times, because you are never exactly the same? — Theaetetus, 154.
Appeasement. The appeasing class are always ready to lead a peaceful life, and do their own business; this is their way of living with all men at home, and they are equally ready to keep the peace with foreign states. And on account of this fondness of theirs for peace, which is often out of season where their influence prevails, they become by degrees unwarlike, and bring up their young men to be like themselves; they are at the mercy of their adversaries; and hence in a few years they and their children and the whole city often pass imperceptibly from the condition of freemen into that of slaves. That is a hard, cruel fate. — Statesman, 307.
Appetite. I had been overcome by a sort of wild beast appetite. — Charmides, 155.
Applause. I observed that in the theatre the actors are spurred on by the children, to say nothing of their friends, whenever they believe that they are being applauded with serious benevolence. — Letter IV 321.
Appropriate. Do we describe the appropriate as that which by its presence causes things to appear or to be beautiful, or neither? — Greater Hippias, 293, 294.
Ivory and gold beautify a thing when they are appropriate; otherwise they uglify it. — Greater Hippias, 290.
Archer. You cannot say of the archer that his hands push and pull the bow at the same time, but what you say is that one hand pushes and the other pulls. — Republic, IV, 439.
Architecture. Architecture is the art of building houses. — Charmides, 165.
Argument. Come out, children of my soul [arguments], and convince Phaedrus, who is the father of similar beauties. — Phaedrus, 261.
The majority of mankind are so ignorant of the pretended value of your arguments, that they would be more ashamed of employing them in the refutation of others than of being refuted by them. — Euthydemus, 303.
The argument is to be yours as well as ours. — Protagoras, 357.
You have no better argument than numbers. — Gorgias, 474.
Answer and fear not; for you will come to no harm if you nobly give yourself to the healing power of the argument, which is a sort of physician; and either say “Yes” or “No” to me — Gorgias, 475.
I perceive that you are dainty, and dislike the taste of an argument which you have heard before. — First Alcibiades, 114.
Attend only of the argument, and see what will come of the refutation. — Charmides, 166.
Somehow or other our arguments, on whatever ground we rest them, seem to turn round and walk away. — Euthyphro, 11.
Arguments, like men, are often pretenders. — Lysis, 218.
I really do not know as yet, but whither the wind carries the argument, thither we go. — Republic, III, 394.
An argument, like a horse, ought to be pulled up from time to time, and not to be allowed to run away, but held with bit and bridle; and then we shall not, as the proverb says, fall off our ass, which is the argument. — Laws, III, 701.
I am not discoursing only for the pleasure of talking, but for the argument’s sake. — Laws, III, 699.
Come then, Nicias, and do what you can to help your friends, who are tossing on the waves of argument, and at the last gasp: you see our extremity, and may save us. — Laches, 194.
That which proceeds by rules of art to dispute about justice and injustice, and about things in general, we are accustomed to call argumentation. — Sophist, 225.
One sort of argumentation wastes money, and the other makes money. — Sophist, 225.
This is my argument, which you may overthrow by an opposite argument, or if you like you may put questions. But I must beg you to put fair questions: for there is great inconsistency in saying that you have a zeal for virtue, and then always behaving unfairly in argument. The unfairness of which I complain is that you never distinguish between mere disputation and dialectic: the sophist may trip up his opponent as often as he likes, and make fun; but the dialectician will be in earnest, and only correct his adversary when necessary. If you do this, he will blame his confusion on himself, and not on you. He will follow and love you, and escape from himself into philosophy. But the other mode of arguing will have just the opposite effect upon him: he will learn to hate philosophy. — Theaetetus, 167, 168.
When a simple man believes an argument to be true which he afterward finds to be false, and when this experience repeats itself often, he loses any faith in the soundness of arguments. — Phaedo, 90.
Until a man knows the truth of the several particulars of which he is writing or speaking, and is able to define them as they are, and having defined them again to divide them until they can be no longer divided, and until he is able to discover the different modes of discourse which are adapted to different natures — until he has accomplished all this, he will not be competent to handle arguments scientifically. — Phaedrus, 277.
Aristocracy. The man corresponding to aristocracy of the government of the best we rightly call just and good. — Republic, VIII, 544, 545.
Our government was an aristocracy — a form of government which receives various names, according to the fancies of men, and is sometimes called democracy, being really an aristocracy or government of the best with the consent of the many. — Menexenus, 238.
Aristophanes. Why are you lying here, not by a professor or lover of jokes, like Aristophanes? — Symposium, 213.
You have seen yourselves the accusation in the comedy of Aristophanes, who has introduced a man whom he calls Socrates, going about and saying that he can walk in the air, and talking a deal of nonsense concerning matters of which I do not pretend to know either much or little. — Apology, 19.
Do you expect to shoot your shafts of ridicule and escape, Aristophanes? — Symposium, 189.
Arithmetic. All arithmetic and calculation have to do with number and lead, in a very remarkable manner, the mind towards truth. — Republic, VII, 525.
Arithmetic has a very great and elevating effect, compelling the soul to reason about abstract number, and rebelling against the introduction of visible or tangible objects into the argument. You know how steadily the masters of this art repel and ridicule anyone who attempts to (distract them by examples). And those who have a natural talent for calculation are generally quick at every other kind of knowledge. — Republic, VII, 525, 526.
They must carry on the study of arithmetic until they see the nature of numbers; not in the spirit of merchants and hucksters, with a view to buying and selling, but for the sake of military use. — Republic, VII, 525.
We must endeavor to persuade those who are to be the principal guardians of our state to go and learn arithmetic, not as amateurs, but they must carry on the study until they see the nature of numbers with the mind only. — Republic, VII, 525.
How ingenious this science [arithmetic]! The very mention of it suggests that: and how conducive to our desired goal [justice], if pursued in the spirit of a philosopher, and not of a shopkeeper. — Republic, VII, 525.
Arithmetician. The philosopher must be an arithmetician. — Republic, VII, 525.
Art. All the higher arts require much discussion and lofty contemplation of nature; this is the source of sublimity and perfect comprehensive power. — Phaedrus, 269.
All arts are either acquisitive or productive. — Sophist, 219.
Surely the art of the painter and every other creative and constructive art are full of graces and harmonies; in all of them there is grace or the absence of grace. And ugliness and discord and disharmony are nearly allied to ill words and ill nature, as grace and harmony are the twin sisters of goodness and virtue. — Republic, III, 401.
That which we know with one art we do not know with the other. — Ion, 537.
The soul and body, being two, have two arts corresponding to them: there is the art of politics attending on the soul; and another art attending on the body, of which I know no specific name. — Gorgias, 464.
Art, Rules of. Many are the noble words in which poets speak of actions; but they do not speak of them by any rules of art. — Ion, 534.
Art and Nature. They say that the greatest and fairest things are done by nature and chance, and the lesser by art, which receives from nature all the greater and primeval creations, and fashions them in detail; and these lesser works are generally termed artificial. — Laws, X, 889.
Artist. As to the artists, do we not know that he only of them whom love inspires has the light of fame? He whom love touches not walks in darkness. — Symposium, 197.
Are the poets only to be required by us to express the image of the good in their works? Or is the same control to be extended to other artists, and are they also to be prohibited from exhibiting the forms of vice and intemperance and meanness and indecency in sculpture and building and the other creative arts? We would not have our guardians grow up amid images of moral deformity, as in some noxious pasture, and there browse and feed upon many a baneful herb and flower day by day, little by little, until they silently gather a festering mass of corruption in their own soul — Republic, III, 401.
We are satisfied with the artist who is able in any degree to imitate the earth and its mountains, and the rivers, and the woods, and the universe, and the things that are and move therein. — Critias, 107. Vide Abstract Art.
Asclepius. Asclepius was the creator of the art of Medicine. — Symposium, 186.
Asking. The asker of a question is necessarily dependent on the answerer. Euthyphro, 14.
Speak and ask anything which you like, while the magistrates of Athens allow. — Phaedo, 85.
Aspirations. The principle of piety, the love of honor, and the desire of beauty, not in the body but in the soul — these are, perhaps, romantic aspirations; but they are the noblest of aspirations, if they could only be realized in any state, and God willing, in the matter of love we may be able to enforce one of two things — either that no one shall venture to touch any person of the freeborn or noble class except his wedded wife, or sow the unconsecrated and bastard seed among harlots, or in barren and unnatural lusts. — Laws, VIII, 841.
Assimilation. Some substances are assimilated when others are present within them; and there are some which are not assimilated; take, for instance, the case of an ointment or color which is put on another substance. — Lysis, 217.
Assistants. What I mean to say is that besides doctors there are doctors’ assistants, who are also styled doctors. — Laws, IV, 720.
Association. Whenever from seeing one thing you conceived another, whether like or unlike, there must surely have been an act of associative recollection. — Phaedo, 74.
From the picture of Simmias, you may by association be led to remember Cebes. — Phaedo, 73.
Astronomy. Knowledge in relation to the revolutions of the heavenly bodies and the seasons of the year is termed astronomy. — Symposium, 188.
The words of astronomy are about the motions of the stars and sun and moon, and their relative swiftness. — Gorgias, 451.
The absence of clouds and rains in Egypt and Syria permits a full view of the stars almost all year round. This clear and dry climate was conducive to the astronomical observations in these countries, which are, indeed, among the first ones. — Epinomis, 987.
Everyone, as I think, must feel that astronomy compels the soul to look upwards, and leads us from this world to another. — Republic, VII, 529.
Atheist. Some of us deny the very existence of the gods, while others are of opinion that they do not care about us; and others that they are turned from their course by gifts. — Laws, X, 885.
Do you contend that I believe in some gods, though they are not the same gods which the city recognizes, or do you mean that I do not believe in gods at all? — I mean the latter — you are a complete atheist. — Apology, 26.
As to the class of monstrous atheists who not only believe that there are no gods, or that they are negligent, or to be propitiated, but conjure the souls of the living, and say they can conjure the dead, and promise to charm the gods with sacrifices and prayers, and will utterly overthrow whole houses and states for the sake of money — let him who is guilty of any of these things be condemned by the judge. — Laws, X, 909.
Who can preserve calmness, having to speak of the existence of the gods to atheists? For he must hate and abhor these men who will not believe.... Yet the attempt must be made; for it would be unseemly that one half of mankind should go mad with lust, and the other half in righteous indignation at them. Let us suppose ourselves to select some one of them, and gently reason with him, repressing our anger: O my son, we say to him, you are young, and the advance of time will make you reverse many of the opinions which you now hold. Do not attempt to judge of high matters at present. You and your friends are not the first who have held this disparaging opinion about the gods. There have always been persons who have had the same disorder. But no one who had taken up this opinion, that the gods do not exist, ever continued in the same until he was old. — Laws, X, 888.
Athenians. The Athenians were renowned all over Europe and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the many virtues of their souls, and were more famous than any of their contemporaries. — Critias, 112.
I say that the Athenians are an understanding people, as indeed they are esteemed by the other Greeks. — Protagoras, 319.
I feel at this moment that I like to hear the Athenian tongue spoken; the common saying is quite true, that a good Athenian is more than ordinarily good, for he is the only man who is freely and genuinely good by the inspiration of nature, and is not manufactured by the law. — Laws, I, 642.
A man may be thought wise; but the Athenians, I suspect, do not care much about this, until he begins to make other men wise; and then for some reason or other they are angry. — Euthyphro, 3.
Athens. Here at Athens there is a dearth of the commodity — all wisdom seems to have emigrated from us to you. — Meno, 71.
Is not the road to Athens made for conversation? — Symposium, 173.
How great would be the disgrace, if we, who know the nature of things, and are the wisest of the Greeks, and as such are met together in Athens, which is the metropolis of wisdom, should have nothing to show worthy of this height of dignity, but should only quarrel with one another like the meanest of mankind. — Protagoras, 337.
Have there not been many good men in this city? And many good statesmen also there always have been, and there are still, in the city of Athens. — Meno, 93.
Athletes. I am afraid that a habit of body such as the athletes have is but a drowsy sort of thing, and rather perilous to health. Do you not observe that these athletes sleep away their lives, and are liable to most dangerous illness if they depart, in ever so slight a degree, from their customary regimen? — Republic, III, 404.
Have we not heard of Iccus of Tarentum, who, with a view to the Olympic and other contests, in his passion for victory, never had any connection with a woman during the whole time of his training? And the same is said of Crison and Astylus and Diopompus and many others, and yet they were far worse educated in their minds than yours and my fellow citizens, and in their bodies far more lusty. This has been often affirmed as a matter of fact by the ancients about these athletes. — Laws, III, 839, 840.
Atlantic, Ocean. From Atlas (son of Poseidon) the whole island and the ocean received the name of Atlantic. — Critias, 114.
Atlantis. The islands of Atlantis once had an extent greater than that of Lybia and Asia; and when afterwards sunk by an earthquake, became an impassable barrier of mud to travelers sailing from hence to the ocean. — Critias, 108.
Atlas. They expect to find another Atlas of the world who is stronger and more everlasting and more containing than the good is. — Phaedo, 99.
Attachment. A hasty attachment is held to be dishonorable, because time is the true test of things. — Symposium, 184.
Attention. What is the meaning of “attention”? For attention can hardly be used in the same sense when applied to the gods as when applied to other things. — Euthyphro, 13.
All men of action succeed when they pay attention to what they are doing, otherwise they fail. — Laws, VI, 783.
We will give you our best attention; and that is the way in which a gentleman expresses his approval. — Laws, III, 688.
Is not attention always designed for the benefit of that to which the attention is given? — Euthyphro, 13.
Attentive. When I am talking with a wise man, I am very attentive to what he says. — Lesser Hippias, 369.
Attributes. You appear to me to offer an attribute only, and not the essence. — Euthyphro, 11.
I assume three attributes: the good, the bad, and that which is neither good nor bad. — Lysis, 216.
When I do not know the essence of something I cannot know its attributes. — Meno, 71.
Audience. The authority which determined and gave judgment, and punished the disobedient, was not expressed in a hiss, nor in the most unmusical shouts of the audience, as in our days; nor in applause and clappings of the hands. But the directors of public instruction insisted that the spectators should listen in silence to the end. Such was the good order which the multitude were willing to observe; they would not have dared to give judgment by noisy cries. — Laws, III, 700.
To seem to speak well of the gods to men is far easier than to speak well of mortals to them: for the inexperience and sheer ignorance of the audience about such matters is a great assistance to him who has to speak of them, and we know how ignorant we are concerning the gods. — Critias, 107.
Auditor. I may consider myself to be speaking to an auditor who will remain, and will not run away. — First Alcibiades, 104.
If any of the auditors, trusting to the scrutiny being over, should, after the judgment has been given, manifest the wickedness of human nature, let the law ordain that he who pleases shall impeach him, and let the case be tried. — Laws, XII, 947.
Authors. Present-day authors, at whose feet you have sat, improperly conceal all this about the soul which they know quite well. Not until they admit they adopt our method of reading and writing, can we admit that they write by rules of art. — Phaedrus, 271.
Are we expected to praise only the clearness, roundness, accuracy, and terseness of an author’s language, and not also his thoughts? — Phaedrus, 234.
The worst of authors will say something that is to the point. — Phaedrus, 235.
Authority. If any believe it possible, simply by ordaining of laws, for any government to be well organized without the existence in the state of some authority concerned with daily life to see that both freeman and slave live soberly and manfully, their assumption is false. — Letter, XI, 359.
Some of us think that we speak with authority because we have many witnesses. — Laws, I, 638.
We ought not rely on the authority of Hippocrates, but to examine and see whether he has reason on his side. — Phaedrus, 270.
The authorities are careful to restrain the criminals by force. — Republic, VIII, 552.
The citizen who does not pursue the good ought never to have any kind of authority intrusted to him. — Laws, III, 689.
Authority, Parental. Is there not one claim of authority which is always just — that of fathers and mothers and in general of progenitors over their offspring? — Laws, III, 690.
Autocrat. An autocrat does as he likes. — Laws, II, 661.
Give me a state which is governed by an autocrat, and let the autocrat be young and have a good memory; let him be quick at learning, and of a courageous and noble nature; let him have that which is the inseparable companion of all the other parts of virtue: temperance. Our autocrat must have this as well as the other qualities, if the state is to acquire the form of government which is most conducive to happiness in the best manner and in the shortest time. — Laws, IV, 709, 710.
Autodidact. Did you never observe that some autodidacts are more skillful than those persons who have had teachers, in some things? — Laches, 185.
Auxiliaries. In our state the auxiliaries were to be dogs, and to hear the voice of the rulers, who are their shepherds. — Republic, IV, 440.
Every care must be taken lest our auxiliaries, as they are stronger than our citizens, should prevail over them, and become savage tyrants instead of gentle allies to them. — Republic, III, 416.
Avarice. Of all changes there is none so speedy or so sure as the conversion of the ambitious youth into the avaricious one. — Republic, VIII, 553.
The timocratical son has seen and suffered the downfall of his father — he is a ruined man, and his fear has taught him to knock the principle of love and honor headlong from his bosom’s throne; humbled by poverty he takes to money-making and by mean and miserly saving and hard work gets a fortune together. Is not such an one likely to seat the principle of appetite and avarice on the vacant throne and to suffer it to play the great king within him? And when he has made reason and spirit sit down on the ground obediently on either side of the sovereign, he compels the one to think only of how lesser sums may be turned into larger ones, and will not allow the other to worship and admire anything but riches and rich men. — Republic, VIII, 553.
If he was the son of a god, we maintain that he was not avaricious; or, if he was avaricious, he was not the son of a god. — Republic, III, 408.