To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think that we know what we do not know.

τὸ γάρ τοι θάνατον δεδιέναι, ὦ ἄνδρες, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ δοκεῖν σοφὸν εἶναι μὴ ὄντα: δοκεῖν γὰρ εἰδέναι ἐστὶν ἃ οὐκ οἶδεν. 

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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More information about this quote

Topic

Fear of death The unknown Ignorance Death The afterlife

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Philosopher

From

Greece Europe Ancient Greece

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Apology. 399 BC, 29a.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo. Translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones. And William Preddy. Harvard UP, 2017, 29a.

Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Socrates

Behold! human beings living in an underground den... Like ourselves... They see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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More information about this quote
Topic
Ignorance Education
Speaker
Socrates

Author

Plato
Source
Republic
Medium
Philosophical dialogue Dialogue
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic. Written by Plato. 375 BC, 7, 514a-515b.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic. Written by Plato. Translated by G. M. A Grube and C. D. C. Reeve. Hackett Publishing, 1992, 7, 514a-515c.

Another quote about Death

For when the One Great Scorer
Comes to mark against your name,
He writes—not that you won or lost—
But how you played the game.

Grantland Rice

More information about this quote
Topic
Fair play Legacy Death

Author

Grantland Rice
Source
Alumnus Football
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1941 1940s 20th century
Authentication Score 0
Citation

Rice, Grantland. "Alumnus Football." Nashville Tennessean, c. 1908.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

Friends have all things in common.

Plato

Phaedrus

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More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of friendship Sharing
Speaker
Phaedrus

Author

Plato
Source
Phaedrus
Medium
Philosophical dialogue Dialogue
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
370 BC 370s BC 4th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Phaedrus. Quoted in Phaedrus. Written by Plato. c. 370 BC, section 279c.

Current Citation

Phaedrus. Quoted in "Phaedrus," Plato: Lysis; Symposium; Phaedrus. Written by Plato. Translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard UP, 2022, sect. 279.

Another quote originally in Greek

This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

God

Matthew 3:17

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More information about this quote
Topic
Jesus
Speaker
God
Source
Gospel of Matthew The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Language
Greek
Time
60 60s 1st century
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Matthew 3:17).