Great Throughts Treasury

"What Socrates said is that the only real harm [in this life] is harm to the soul. You may lose all your money, or be paralyzed by disease, but that is nothing compared to the damage done - by yourself, to yourself - if you lead an unjust life. Conversely, there is no gain like that which a good man has from the practice of the virtues, and consequently no loss that he would reckon as harm except the loss of his virtue."

"I do believe that philosophy has some things to say which are (and can, if appropriately presented, be perceived to be) of relevance to non-philosophers. But it would be ridiculous to think that this is or should be true of everything that philosophers produce. Philosophy did not come into the world to change it, but – before aspiring to change it for the better – to understand it. Which must include understanding those features of the world that no one can change. "

"What else can I say I am when asked: "What do you do?" Are we sure that absolutely every ancient philosopher had original thoughts of their own? On the contrary, some would have felt insulted by the very suggestion that they were innovators. "