Ancient Greece was a fruitful period in all imaginable arts and scientific disciplines . A time of splendour for Athens on a political level, it marked a before and after in the development of Western civilization.

At this time, a great many thinkers in different sciences emerged who, thanks to their efforts, generated not inconsiderable cultural advances.

Greek Philosophers’ Phrases and Famous Quotes

To review all this knowledge left to us by Ancient Greece, in this article we will compile a large number of famous quotes and phrases from Greek Philosophers who left an incomparable legacy.

Of course there are many more reflections that had to be left out of this selection, but if you consider that there is any sentence that should be in the list, please add it in the comments section.

1. Advice is to get married: if you find a good wife you will be happy, if not, you will become a philosopher. (Socrates)

For Socrates, there was little choice.

2. Don’t let the grass grow in the way of friendship. (Socrates)

A true friendship must be nurtured often.

3. Kings or rulers are not those who carry a scepter, but those who know how to command. (Socrates)

Authority comes from power, not the other way around.

4. Fear the love of woman more than the hate of man. (Socrates)

There’s nothing more stark than a woman in love.

5. There is no pain like a long life. (Sophocles)

Boredom and tedium are real poisons.

6. He who is born mortal walks towards death. (Ephesus)

Inexcusably so.

7. No one is happy all his life. (Euripides)

We all have ups and downs, it’s perfectly normal.

8. It is worse to commit an injustice than to suffer it because whoever commits it becomes unjust and whoever suffers it does not. (Socrates)

One of those philosophical phrases that gets you thinking.

9. Human science consists more in destroying errors than in discovering truths. (Socrates)

On the path of science.

10. The best sauce is hunger. (Socrates)

When there’s a need, anything that covers it is welcome.

11. Good and beautiful men are conquered with kindness. (Socrates)

A seduction tip from the great Socrates.

12. Only knowledge that comes from within is true knowledge. (Socrates)

Nothing that is not processed by our conscious mind has the attribute of truth.

13. Who will capitulate sooner: the one who needs the difficult things or the one who makes use of what he can find well? (Socrates)

A phrase that praises austerity.

14. The greatest declaration of love is that which is not made; the man who feels much, speaks little. (Plato)

Don’t let your words cloud reality.

15. Happiness is in freedom, and freedom is in courage. (Pericles)

This is how this Greek philosopher defines happiness.

16. Music is to the soul what gymnastics is to the body. (Plato)

A most fitting parallel.

17. The human body is the carriage; the self, the man who drives it; the thought is the reins, and the feelings are the horses. (Plato)

Defining every facet of the human being.

18. Friends often become the thieves of our time. (Plato)

You trust them with your time, and this could be a big mistake.

19. Seeking the good of our fellow men, we find our own. (Plato)

In the common good there is also the personal good.

20. There is no man so cowardly that love does not make him brave and transform him into a hero. (Plato)

Intoxicated by love, we are capable of the impossible.

21. Listen, you’ll be wise. The beginning of wisdom is silence. (Pythagoras)

The Greek mathematician conceived of wisdom in this way.

22. Poverty does not come from a decrease in wealth, but from a multiplication of desires. (Plato)

Having more needs makes us slaves to economic power.

23. Tyrants surround themselves with bad men because they like to be flattered, and no man of an elevated spirit will flatter them. (Aristotle)

Loyalty between bad men is mere interest.

24. The purpose of art is to give body to the secret essence of things, not to copy their appearance. (Aristotle)

About art and its essence.

25. Everybody’s friend is not a friend. (Aristotle)

If there’s no criteria, there’s no basis for friendship.

26. You never reach the total truth, nor are you ever totally detached from it. (Aristotle)

We are in constant dialectic with truth and reason.

27. Two excesses are to be avoided in the education of youth; too much severity, and too much sweetness. (Plato)

Moderation is the key.

28. Love consists of feeling that the sacred being beats within the loved one. (Plato)

Great line about love.

29. What I don’t know, I don’t think I know either. (Plato)

Knowledge must always be challenged.

30. Every tear teaches mortals a truth. (Plato)

Sadness is a friend of truth.

31. There are men who work as if they were going to live forever. (Democritus)

Remember that your time is not infinite.

32. The friend has to be like money, which before needing it, you know how much it is worth. (Socrates)

A great metaphor to apply to life and relationships.

33. The wise is the goal of the human soul, and as it advances in its knowledge, it moves away from the horizon of the unknown. (Heraclitus)

A philosophical phrase of long standing.

34. Descend into the depths of yourself, and see your good soul. Happiness is made only by oneself through good conduct. (Socrates)

Ethics go hand in hand with a clear conscience.

35. Young people today seem to have no respect for the past and no hope for the future. (Hippocrates)

A phrase that could be applied to the present time.

36. I just know I don’t know anything. (Socrates)

One of those phrases of Greek philosophers who have gone around the world.

37. A woman’s beauty is illuminated by a light that leads us to contemplate the soul that such a body inhabits, and if it is as beautiful as this one, it is impossible not to love it. (Socrates)

A praise to the female figure.

38. The dead are the only ones who see the end of the war. (Plato)

To reflect on war conflicts and their consequences.

39. Beauty is the splendor of truth. (Plato)

For Plato, beauty was inseparable from reason.

40. Intelligence consists not only of knowledge, but also of the ability to apply knowledge in practice. (Aristotle)

An intelligence without practical skill would be an oxymoron.

41. Hope is the dream of the awake man. (Aristotle)

Great line that leaves a mark.

42. What is acquired with a lot of work, is loved more. (Aristotle)

Constancy brings very tasty fruits.

43. If thou dost deceive me once, it is thy fault; if thou dost deceive me twice, it is mine. (Anaxagoras)

One of those famous quotes to apply to our relationships.

44. Think as the wise think, but speak as the simple people speak. (Aristotle)

There’s no point in appearing wise with abstruse language.

45. True happiness consists in doing good. (Aristotle)

Ethics and goodness are not different things.

46. The lonely man is either a beast or a god. (Aristotle)

There’s no middle ground.

47. At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet. (Plato)

Sensitivity softens us all.

48. By learning to die you learn to live better. (Plato)

By being aware of death we can make the most of life.

49. The best grave is the simplest. (Plato)

No luxury accompanies you after death.

50. Just as the eyes are formed for astronomy, the ears are formed for perceiving the movements of harmony. (Plato)

Reflection on human perception.

51. The punishment of the liar is not to be believed, even if he tells the truth. (Aristotle)

From all the lying, no one believes your truths anymore.

52. It is an indisputable principle that to know how to command well, one must know how to obey. (Aristotle)

There is no hierarchy without an understanding of the chain of command.

53. Fear is a suffering that produces the expectation of evil. (Aristotle)

A philosophical description of fear.

54. Teaching is not a vital function, because it has no end in itself; the vital function is to learn. (Aristotle)

Pedagogy and its many benefits.

55. If they praise Me so much, it will be because they praise themselves, for by praising Me they give the impression that they understand Me. (Aristotle)

A rather narcissistic phrase.

56. Slowly, but quickly execute your decisions. (Socrates)

Control and agility in decision making.

57. The ignorant assert, the wise doubt and reflect. (Aristotle)

One of those phrases of Greek philosophers that have come down to us.

58. The wise do not say everything they think, but always think everything they say. (Aristotle)

Reflection and action, in that order.

59. I consider more courageous the one who conquers his desires than the one who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is victory over oneself. (Aristotle)

Great thought of Aristotle to come out strong.

60. Some believe that to be friends it is enough to want, as if to be healthy it is enough to want health. (Aristotle)

There are actions that speak louder than feelings.

61. We have two ears and only one mouth, just to hear more and speak less (Zenon of Cythia)

A great reflection that few people apply.

62. Remember that the secret of happiness is in freedom, I secret of freedom, courage. (Thucydides)

Another phrase that points the way to happiness.

63. Only that which is achieved through virtue is lasting. (Sophocles)

If it is not achieved with effort, nothing is worthwhile.

64. The sweetest life is to know nothing. (Sophocles)

Ignorance can bring happiness.

65. The man who is not content with little, is not content with anything. (Epicurus of Samos)

Austerity is not everyone’s domain.

66. Misfortune puts friends to the test and uncovers enemies. (Epithet)

When everything is going well, it’s usual for friends to hang around. Another song is when you fail.

67. There is only happiness where there is virtue and serious effort, for life is not a game. (Aristotle)

A calm and prudent view of existence.

68. There is only one good: knowledge. There is only one evil: ignorance. (Socrates)

A very clear way of classifying reality.

69. The true wisdom is in recognizing one’s own ignorance. (Socrates)

Phrase analogous to his famous “I just know I don’t know anything”.

70. The virtuous one is satisfied with dreaming what the sinner realizes in life. (Plato)

The sinful life is more fun than that of an incorruptible being.