Quotes from the life of Socrates

1) The curse of the person who thinks clearly: Believing that others will arrive at the same insights if they study the same facts.
2) - (from Platos dialogue "Gorgias"): Speach influences the soul in the same way as drugs affect the body.
3) - (from Plato's dialogue "Phaedrus"): Wisdom is wealth. Do we need something beyond it, Phaedrus: It is sufficient at least for me.
4) - (Plato's dialogue from "Republic") Luxury and Indolenceare are the children of Wealth.
5) Bettany Hughes on Socrates: He was the first man of irony. Many were upset by this.
6) Bettany about Athens of Socrates time: It was the first time in history when freedom of speach (Greek: parrhesia) was permitted. The Greek word actually means: the ability to speak frankly (= to speak their minds bluntly).
7) Bettany on Athenian slaves: It was necessary that these people remained disenfranchised. It was their muscles and sweat that created the wealth of the city of Athene. When Socrates suggested that all people, regardless of background, by themselves should have equal opportunities for personal freedom, it was a very uncomfortable proposition. It was the Athenian slaves who produced the silver coins that were spent on Athens' markets. It was the miserable lifes of the slaves, which gave free citizens and even such men as Socrates the opportunity to have free speach dialogues.
8) Bettany on Socrates: Socrates actions were embarrassing to those who ruled this money-hungry city, because he was so remarkably uninterested in material things. The thing that had made Athens rich the preceding centuries was the silver mines of Attica. At 400 years B. C. 20,000 slaves walked each day to work underground  to unearth the silver-rich ore. By the mid 400s Athens could boast of having liquid assets in the form of silver to the value of 6000 talents (equivalent in today's money $ 65 millions). In this materialistic city Socrates preached that it was more important to cultivate spiritual than material wealth. He walked around barefoot in thin clothing. Year around, he wore the same sort of shabby clothes of wool.
9) From a comedy: That dog Socrates! How dare he speak? He who owns only a single garment for protection against the weather, whether it is summer or winter!
10) Socrates (from Platos "Apology"): The only thing I try to persuade you, young and old, to do is to not bother about growing your ego or your possessions, but that you instead work on perfecting your souls. I'm trying to get you to realize that virtue does not arise out of wealth, but it's out of virtue that wealth and everything else that is valuable in life is created.
11) Xenophon (from "Remeberances of Socrates"): He always took good care of his body and he never praised those who did not.
12) Socrates realized that the society was necessary for the philosopher. He was convinced that it was impossible to be wise on your own. The more  thirst for knowledge an individual has, the more important it is that he participates in the social life. Stupidity is evil. Knowledge is virtue. Knowledge can be acquired only by those who engage in the human world, despite all its ugliness.
13) Most people seem to know that above the entry to the Oracle of Delphi it is written: "Know yourself", but only a few know that there is also the text "Nothing must go to extremes" (Nothing in Excess).
 For the Greeks, this meant that they should not exaggerate their ego. But Socrates interpreted it to mean "you should learn to control your mind, thus learning to control the minds of others". Or "Know yourself by studying the minds of others."
14) (Faidon 66c-d): Wars, revolutions and conflicts take place for one reason only and that is the desires of our  bodies. All wars are started to conquer wealth or assets. The body is the only reason that makes us desire wealth. We are enslaved by the desires of our bodies.
15) Socrates kept out of politics for most of his life. But in the year 406 B.C. he was elected as the leader of a court that accused some generals for not taking care of their dead comrades' bodies at a naval battle (which they won) against a Spartan naval force. There had been a storm and therefore very difficult to recover the bodies.
 The Athenians had changed the law to make it possible to punish the generals. The law was changed so that all the generals could be prosecuted as a group. This new law was against the existing law. The old law clearly said that each individual should be prosecuted separately. As leader of the court Socrates refused to accept this violation of law, despite the demands of the mob.
 Socrates got the jury to agree that the trial should be stopped and the generals prosecuted each one separately. When the individual indictments later were made, it was not Socrates who led the trials. All six generals were sentenced to death and executed.
16) Xenophon (from "Hellenica"): Homo sapiens loves the  anonymity of the masses. Civilization's darkest moments occur when people wants scapegoats. They will direct their accusing fingers against anyone, as long as it's not being pointed at them. Unleashed envy is history's worst curse.
17) Bettany: A little more than six years later, the same sort of anonymous mass proved that not even a freely speaking philosopher like Socrates could manage to change their behavior, even though he spoke so convincingly to them. If a mob, a jury or an all-powerful democracy happen to wish to get rid of somebody, whether truth stood by their side or not, it was always in their power to do so.

 I sure do like this man (Socrates). Probably both Plato and Xenophon do present him as a slightly better man than he was. But I can not help but like the stories of Socrates conveyed by them.

 One thing that was a real eyeopener to me is that I have now realized that the democracy of ancient Athens was much more warlike than I had imagined. The Athenian decision-making assembly decided very often (in their arrogance) to declare war against one citystate after another. During the Peloponnesian wars they came to grips with Sparta and things went from bad to worse.
 Athens' democratic Assembly declared to theGovernment of island of Melos (416 BC, before the conquest, with consequent slaughter) when the Athenians were preparing to take over the island's Mines and Resources: We believe that this law applies to the Gods. We know that it applies to humans. This natural law says that anyone who can rule does so. It is not we who invented this law and we are not the first to make use of it. We know that the law has existed since time immemorial. We know that it will continue to exist in perpetuity for those who come after us. The only thing we do is that we use this law. We are well aware that you yourselves or any other power that be, would do exactly the same thing, if you or they had the same opportunities as we do.

 Bettany on Socrates: He (Socrates) did not fit into any political mainstream. He carried no political campaigns. He was never willing to sacrifice his life for the idea of ​​democracy (although he fought as a soldier in Athenian armies).  When some of his disciples establishes themselves among the thirty tyrants of Athens (404-403 BC) he never tried to use them to get into any position of power. Instead, he kept his calm in the mids of chaos, when most around him were loosing their heads, abandoning their principles and many even died. He just continued to spend his time with the young, who are his disciples, to debate the nature of friendship and what to expect of the future.

 In Platos "apology" Socrates says: My disciples likes to challenge people and then tries to imitate me. Then I think they notice that there is a lot of people who think they know something, when in fact they almost do not know anything at all. That is why those questioned by my disciples become angry with me and not the disciples. They believe that a certain Socrates pollutes our land, corrupting the youth. But if someone asks them what I've done and what I have taught, that upsets them, they prefer to avoid the truth that they pretend to be knowing when in fact they do not know anything.

 Socrates (from Platos "Apology"): The thirty ordered me (and four others) (threathening to kill us) to kill Leon of Salamis. I then made it quite clear to them, not with words but through actions that I did not care so much about whether I live or die, but that I really did care very much to act in a virtuous way. So despite their threats, I refused to act unjustly.
 Bettany: Socrates never gave in to the threats of the tyrants. He did not not totally turn against them. He did not bother to flee from them along with the Democrats. He just continued to do what he always had done, whether it was war or peace, whether there was rampant illnesses or during sieges. He remained in Athens and walked the streets, asking questions, and communicating.

 Socrates motto was: A life without contemplation is not worth living.

 I changed my mind most of all about Socrates hometown (Athens), when I read "The Hemlock Cup". I learned that  the city of Athens when Socrates was born, had about 200 000 inhabitants (that I already knew) and that the number of inhabitants fell sharply in Socrates lifetime to about 60 000. The reason was that a wast amount of the male inhabitants died in wars (both against the Persians and against Sparta). The disease (some sort of plague) that hit Athens when the city was besieged (by Sparta) took many lives. Socrates lived in the middle of Athens' most difficult times.

Todde

Also check: http://axiom1b.blogspot.se/2015/06/socrates-gossip-filter-gossip-slander.html - about his "Gossip filter"

and: http://axiom1b.blogspot.se/2016/03/about-socrates-and-his-attitude-to.html  - about his regard of women.

 If you do think clearly, Why not check the modern Swedish use of the Socratic Method (dialctic) at:

https://www.duga.se/ - Use google translate