An Unexamined life Is Not Worth Living
The Great Thinkers
The greatest thinkers of the ancient world were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Thinkers call for everyone to care for the soul. That is being philosophical and it means that we must always asked questions and challenge people's thoughts. Plato was Socrates' famous student and he called Socrates "the wisest, justest and best of all men whom I have ever known". Aristotle was Plato's most prized student.
The greatest thinkers of the ancient world were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Thinkers call for everyone to care for the soul. That is being philosophical and it means that we must always asked questions and challenge people's thoughts. Plato was Socrates' famous student and he called Socrates "the wisest, justest and best of all men whom I have ever known". Aristotle was Plato's most prized student.
Philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom, a sacred quest. When you think ancient Greece, Athens comes straight to mind. They were a great city. It was intellectual and artistic. Like what Sparta did, 20,000 Greeks once defeated 100,000 troops of King Xerxes around 490 BC. Nine years later, Xerxes sent two million men and 1200 ships to attack Greece again. They came from the North and going towards Athens but found the city emptied as the Greeks were waiting for them elsewhere with their fleet. Against all odds, the Greeks triumphed and forced back the Persians. This victory was important as it allows the Greeks to continue their adventure and to produce thinking that led Europe in the years ahead.
Socrates' views are unorthodox and perhaps too far ahead of his time such that he was accused of corrupting the youths of the time and was sentenced to death. In 399, he was ordered to drink a poison in front of his students. "Kiang joo ho, mai kay kiang" (meaning clever is enough do not be too clever in Hokkien)may be what Socrates would say today.
Quotes By Socrates
Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.
Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor be too scornful in misfortune.
He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature.
Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.
Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one.
Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove they faults.
Be slow to fall into friendship, but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.
No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest, yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government.
From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.
Let him that would move the world, first move himself.
One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.
The end of life is to be like God and the soul following God will be like Him.
Nature has given us two ears, two eyes but one tongue so that we should hear and see more than we speak.
He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.
If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.
True wisdom comes to us when we realise how little we understand about life, ourselves and the world around us.
False words are not only evil in themselves but they infect the soul with evil.
It is not living that matters, but living rightly.
I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.
Well I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.
An Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.
Quotes By Socrates
Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.
Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor be too scornful in misfortune.
He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature.
Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.
Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one.
Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove they faults.
Be slow to fall into friendship, but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.
No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest, yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government.
From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.
Let him that would move the world, first move himself.
One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.
The end of life is to be like God and the soul following God will be like Him.
Nature has given us two ears, two eyes but one tongue so that we should hear and see more than we speak.
He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.
If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.
True wisdom comes to us when we realise how little we understand about life, ourselves and the world around us.
False words are not only evil in themselves but they infect the soul with evil.
It is not living that matters, but living rightly.
I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.
Well I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.
An Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.
Socrates was the son of a stone cutter father and midwife mother. He fought in wars. He was so absorbed in philosophy that he fell into poverty. Maybe he wanted to carve and mould people like his father would cut stones or deliver them as his mother would for babies. His entire life was committed to the supreme art of philosophy. He was a good citizen and great role model for practising what he preached. He took no fees and started and dominated arguments with the intelligent or the young. People sought his advice on all kinds of problems. He wasn't attractive, was overweight and prematurely bald but physically he was strong and everyone who came into contact with him found him an intellectual master. He was a great philosopher a lover of wisdom. Socrates may or may not be intelligent but he was surely very wise.
When Socrates said that "The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living" what exactly did he meant? Quite simply that we are superior to animals and as animals do not understand their actions or their consequences, they are unable to make moral choices that we could and should. Therefore, all humans have to examine your own life by knowing yourself and have an awareness about what you do. There is no point to be alive if you do not examine your life.
In the modern context of our world where there are constant bombardment and enticement of all kinds of media, inappropriate role models, fear, unnecessary drama, where consumer culture created false needs and wants, mankind and their lifestyles have been left stranded with no room for any form of critical thinking. What is your success without intellectual or moral growth? What is the real freedom in living? Do you have an independent mind? Are you who you really are or are you someone you want the world to see or think you are?
Only a clear reflection of your life can you have true value. Do you take time to examine your values, your motivations and actions? Why are we stuck in miserable jobs or circle of friends for some? Are you living your life or living by boundaries set by others and their expectations? An unexamined life is not worth living is a analysis of the deepest proportion of what gives meaning to one's life. By this principle, we should lead responsible lives, we have to examine every beliefs that we hold and find reasons and answers for doing what we do seeking virtue and justice. Socrates was said to be the wisest of all men yet he maintained that his wisdom was simply he acknowledged his own ignorance.
Have you examined your life? Is it worth living? These questions are not meant for the poor and ignorant. It is for everyone. Remember Socrates said he was ignorant. Are you pursuing the right things in life? Remember that philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom. Were you in those snaking queues for "Hello" Kitty"? Why is is that a kitten with no mouth is so popular? Why do people bother to do these things and brought out all their ugliness. Socrates would shudder if he saw it. Ask yourself again: "Is an unexamined life worth living?"
When Socrates said that "The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living" what exactly did he meant? Quite simply that we are superior to animals and as animals do not understand their actions or their consequences, they are unable to make moral choices that we could and should. Therefore, all humans have to examine your own life by knowing yourself and have an awareness about what you do. There is no point to be alive if you do not examine your life.
In the modern context of our world where there are constant bombardment and enticement of all kinds of media, inappropriate role models, fear, unnecessary drama, where consumer culture created false needs and wants, mankind and their lifestyles have been left stranded with no room for any form of critical thinking. What is your success without intellectual or moral growth? What is the real freedom in living? Do you have an independent mind? Are you who you really are or are you someone you want the world to see or think you are?
Only a clear reflection of your life can you have true value. Do you take time to examine your values, your motivations and actions? Why are we stuck in miserable jobs or circle of friends for some? Are you living your life or living by boundaries set by others and their expectations? An unexamined life is not worth living is a analysis of the deepest proportion of what gives meaning to one's life. By this principle, we should lead responsible lives, we have to examine every beliefs that we hold and find reasons and answers for doing what we do seeking virtue and justice. Socrates was said to be the wisest of all men yet he maintained that his wisdom was simply he acknowledged his own ignorance.
Have you examined your life? Is it worth living? These questions are not meant for the poor and ignorant. It is for everyone. Remember Socrates said he was ignorant. Are you pursuing the right things in life? Remember that philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom. Were you in those snaking queues for "Hello" Kitty"? Why is is that a kitten with no mouth is so popular? Why do people bother to do these things and brought out all their ugliness. Socrates would shudder if he saw it. Ask yourself again: "Is an unexamined life worth living?"
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