Ancient Greek Quotes – Wisdom from the Ancients

Know thyself. – Socrates

In every difficult situation lies an opportunity for greatness. – Aristotle

Time is the wisest counselor of all. – Pericles

A house that has a library has a soul. – Plato

Courage is knowing what not to fear. – Thucydides

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle

The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions. – Hippocrates

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. – Socrates

Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety. – Plato

The secret to happiness is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. – Socrates

Excellence is not a virtue, but a habit. – Aristotle

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. – Heraclitus

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. – Plato

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. – Socrates

It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen. – Aristotle

The greatest wealth is to live content with little. – Plato

He who is not a good servant will not be a good master. – Socrates

True philosophers are always in love with wisdom. – Plato

Ancient Greek Quotes – Wisdom from the Ancients part 2

Virtue does not come from wealth, but wealth comes from virtue. – Socrates

The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. – Plato

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. – Aristotle

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. – Aristotle

The greatest blessing granted to mankind is the ability to choose. – Heraclitus

Without music, life would be a mistake. – Plato

A true friend is one soul in two bodies. – Aristotle

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think. – Socrates

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not. – Epicurus

The measure of a man is what he does with power. – Plato

By doubting, we come to questioning, and by questioning, we arrive at truth. – Peter Abelard

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. – Heraclitus

Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil. – Plato

You cannot step into the same river twice. – Heraclitus

All things are in flux; nothing remains still. – Plato

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. – Leonardo da Vinci (inspired by the Ancient Greeks)

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. – Aristotle

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. – Socrates

The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance. – Socrates

Life must be lived as play. – Plato

He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it. – Plato

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. – Plutarch

Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others. – Socrates

Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments. – Plato

To find yourself, think for yourself. – Socrates

Wisdom begins in wonder. – Socrates