Socrates and Musonius Rufus are known to be great philosophers of all time. Socrates received the credits of being one of the founders of Western philosophy. He was known to be a philosopher who spent time exploring questions of ethics.
On the other hand, Musonius Rufus was one of the greatest Stoic philosophers in the Roman empire. He is also known to be a great Stoic teacher. With their contributions to society, let’s see their thoughts by sharing their words of encouragement below.
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”-Socrates.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”-Socrates
“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think”-Socrates
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”-Socrates
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”-Socrates
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”-Socrates
“Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”-Socrates
“To find yourself, think for yourself.”-Socrates
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”-Socrates
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”-Socrates
“Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.”-Socrates
“If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”-Socrates
“Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.”-Socrates
“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”-Socrates
“Know thyself.”-Socrates
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”-Socrates
“Let him who would move the world first move himself.”-Socrates
“Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”-Socrates
“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”-Socrates
“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”-Socrates
“The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows.”-Socrates
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“Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.”-Socrates
“We do not know — neither the sophists, nor the orators, nor the artists, nor I— what the True, the Good, and the Beautiful are. But there is this difference between us: although these people know nothing, they all believe they know something; whereas, I, if I know nothing, at least have no doubts about it. As a result, all this superiority in wisdom which the oracle has attributed to me reduces itself to the single point that I am strongly convinced that I am ignorant of what I do not know.”-Socrates
“Every action has its pleasures and its price.”-Socrates
“Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.”-Socrates
“If we were to measure what is good by how much pleasure it brings, nothing would be better than self-control- if we were to measure what is to be avoided by its pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control”-Musonius Rufus
“Wealth is able to buy the pleasures of eating, drinking and other sensual pursuits-yet can never afford a cheerful spirit or freedom from sorrow.”-Musonius Rufus
“You will earn the respect of all if you begin by earning the respect of yourself. Don’t expect to encourage good deeds in people conscious of your own misdeeds.”-Musonius Rufus
“We begin to lose our hesitation to do immoral things when we lose our hesitation to speak of them.”-Musonius Rufus
“Others have been in poor health from overindulgence and high living, before exile has provided strength, forcing them to live a more vigorous life.”-Musonius Rufus
“To accept injury without a spirit of savage resentment-to show ourselves merciful toward those who wrong us-being a source of good hope to them-is characteristic of a benevolent and civilized way of life.” -Musonius Rufus
“Humanity must seek what is NOT simple and obvious using the simple and obvious.”-Musonius Rufus
“We will train both soul and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduring pains.”-Musonius Rufus
“For what does the man who accepts insult do that is wrong? It is the doer of wrong who puts themselves to shame-the sensible man wouldn’t go to the law, since he wouldn’t even consider that he had been insulted! Besides, to be annoyed or angered about such things would be petty-instead easily and silently bear what has happened, since this is appropriate for those whose purpose is to be noble-minded.”-Musonius Rufus
“Thus it appears that exile helps, rather than hinders body and spirit, by treating them better than they treat themselves.”-Musonius Rufus
“Generally speaking, if you devote yourself to the life of philosophy, whilst tilling the land at the same time, I couldn’t compare it to any other way of life, nor would I prefer any other livelihood. It is living more in accord with nature-drawing your sustenance directly from the earth-the nurse and mother of us all-rather than from another source.”-Musonius Rufus
“Only by exhibiting actions in harmony with the sound words which he has received will anyone be helped by philosophy.”-Musonius Rufus
“Won’t we, therefore, be willing to endure pain in order to gain complete happiness?”-Musonius Rufus
“Just as plants receive nourishment for survival, not pleasure-for humans, food is the medicine of life. Therefore it is appropriate for us to eat for living, not pleasure, especially if we want to follow the wise words of Socrates, who said most men live to eat: I eat to live”-Musonius Rufus
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