Ancient Greece is famous for many things, from architecture and democracy to epic heroes and battles that historically remain some of the most dramatic and intense. However, many scholars argue that the greatest cultural legacy of ancient Greek civilization is its freethinkers and the resulting philosophical thought. Pretty much everyone knows the “holy trinity” of ancient Greek philosophy: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Each of these great men made a variety of striking statements that have been passed down through history, the most famous being Socrates’s “True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing,” perfectly reflecting the spirit of the age’s constant quest for knowledge and observation of existence and its essence.
Still, some of you might be wondering how it all started. The first man to come up with the word philosophy and who defined himself as a philosopher was the legendary mathematician and polymath Pythagoras. Many great thinkers followed after him, and it’s worth mentioning that many contemporary historians and scholars believe he wasn’t the first Greek philosopher but rather the first to define the term philosophy. To get an idea of what a strong, lasting impact ancient Greek philosophy has had on the world, here are 25 Profound Greek Philosopher Quotes You’ll Want To Hear that will definitely open your mind.
Excess of grief for the dead is madness, for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not. --Xenophon
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia No human being will ever know the Truth, for even if they happen to say it by chance, they would not even know they had done so. —Xenophanes
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men. —Thucydides
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself. - Thales
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: commons.wikimedia.orgMan is the measure of all things. —Protagoras
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits. —Plutarch
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Man: a being in search of meaning. —Plato
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Wait for the wisest of all counselors to judge you . . . time. —Pericles
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond. —Hypatia
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: commons.wikimedia.orgWhatever comes from God is impossible for a man to turn back. —Herodotus
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Death does not concern us because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist. —Epicurus
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere. —Empedocles
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. —Demosthenes
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: commons.wikimedia.orgNo evil is honorable, but death is honorable; therefore death is not evil. —Zeno of Citium
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Anybody can become angry—that is easy, but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy. —Aristotle
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue. —Antisthenes
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: commons.wikimedia.orgNothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion. —Democritus
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. —Alexander the Great
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia He has the most who is most content with the least. —Diogenes
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia By all means, get married: if you find a good wife, you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll become a philosopher. —Socrates
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. —Plato
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky. —Solon
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. —Epicurus
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia There is nothing permanent except change. —Heraclitus
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: Wikipedia Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend. —Theophrastus
Source: Famous Greek quotes list - Greeka.com, Image: commons.wikimedia.org
