{"quotes":[{"text":"It is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low, has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied; and a highly endowed being will always feel that any happiness which he can look for, as the world is constituted, is imperfect. But he can learn to bear its imperfections, if they are at all bearable; and they will not make him envy the being who is indeed unconscious of the imperfections, but only because he feels not at all the good which those imperfections qualify.  Dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question.","author":"John Stuart Mill","tags":["capacity","enjoyment","fool","happiness","imperfections","philosophy","satisfaction","socrates"],"id":2294,"author_id":"John+Stuart+Mill"},{"text":"[n regard to Jesus believing himself inspired]This belief carried no more personal imputation than the belief of Socrates that he was under the care and admonition of a guardian demon. And how many of our wisest men still believe in the reality of these inspirations while perfectly sane on all other subjects (Works, Vol. Iv, p. 327).","author":"Thomas Jefferson","tags":["freethinker","freethought","insanity","inspired","skeptic","skepticism","socrates"],"id":8877,"author_id":"Thomas+Jefferson"},{"text":"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe God isn't trying to save you? Maybe, he is trying to remove all that hurt and anger inside of you so you can save everyone in this situation? Maybe, today you could be that peaceful warrior. Maybe, for once in your life you could not react, but respond. God is waiting for you to be his hero and heal people. When will you love, not hate? When will you show the best part of who you are? You have the power to be someone great. You can show kindness, compassion, mercy and love if you want to. You have been running your entire life thinking peace is found in what you hurt or cut away from your life. Have you ever considered peace is found in what you love, restore, bring kindness to and forgive? Maybe, today is your day to be someone different--someone the world can say was different because they cared about everyone's feelings.","author":"Shannon L. Alder","tags":["be-different","be-like-christ","caring","compassion","forgive-others","forgive-the-past","forgiving","kindness","loving","peace","peace-making","peaceful-warrior","positive-criticism","rise-up","smile","socrates","stay-positive"],"id":9975,"author_id":"Shannon+L.+Alder"},{"text":"Men are not born equal in themselves, so I think it beneath a man to postulate that they are. If I thought myself as good as Sokrates I should be a fool; and if, not really believing it, I asked you to make me happy by assuring me of it, you would rightly despise me. So why should I insult my fellow-citizens by treating them as fools and cowards? A man who thinks himself as good as everyone else will be at no pains to grow better. On the other hand, I might think myself as good as Sokrates, and even persuade other fools to agree with me; but under a democracy, Sokrates is there in the Agora to prove me wrong. I want a city where I can find my equals and respect my betters, whoever they are; and where no one can tell me to swallow a lie because it is expedient, or some other man's will.","author":"Mary Renault","tags":["alcibiades","athens","classical","democracy","fifth-century","greece","historical-fiction","philosophy","plato","socrates","sparta"],"id":27623,"author_id":"Mary+Renault"},{"text":"As Socrates so philosophically put it, since we don't know what death is, it is illogical to fear it.","author":"Tom Stoppard","tags":["death","existentialism","socrates"],"id":34723,"author_id":"Tom+Stoppard"},{"text":"Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle. That principle is of great antiquity; it is as old as Socrates; as old as the writer who said, 'Try all things, hold fast by that which is good'; it is the foundation of the Reformation, which simply illustrated the axiom that every man should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him, it is the great principle of Descartes; it is the fundamental axiom of modern science. Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the agnostic position, which if a man keep whole and undefiled, he shall not be ashamed to look the universe in the face, whatever the future may have in store for him.The results of the working out of the agnostic principle will vary according to individual knowledge and capacity, and according to the general condition of science. That which is unproved today may be proved, by the help of new discoveries, tomorrow. The only negative fixed points will be those negations which flow from the demonstrable limitation of our faculties. And the only obligation accepted is to have the mind always open to conviction.That it is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can provide evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what agnosticism asserts and in my opinion, is all that is essential to agnosticism.","author":"Thomas Henry Huxley","tags":["agnostic","agnosticism","belief","definition","descartes","honesty","knowledge","science","socrates","truth"],"id":39579,"author_id":"Thomas+Henry+Huxley"},{"text":"Socrates: Have you noticed on our journey how often the citizens of this new land remind each other it is a free country? Plato: I have, and think it odd they do this.Socrates: How so, Plato?Plato: It is like reminding a baker he is a baker, or a sculptor he is asculptor.Socrates: You mean to say if someone is convinced of their trade, they haveno need to be reminded.Plato: That is correct.Socrates: I agree. If these citizens were convinced of their freedom, they would not need reminders.","author":"E.A. Bucchianeri","tags":["catholic","catholic-","christian","citizens","civil-liberty","free-country","freedom","freedom-of-thought","gadfly","liberty","philosophers","philosophical","philosophy","plato","socrates","thought-provoking","wisdom","words-of-wisdom"],"id":54205,"author_id":"E.A.+Bucchianeri"},{"text":"Plato says that the unexamined life is not worth living. But what if the examined life turns out to be a clunker as well?","author":"Kurt Vonnegut Jr.","tags":["examined-life","life","meaning-of-life","plato","socrates","unexamined-life"],"id":57055,"author_id":"Kurt+Vonnegut+Jr."},{"text":"I 'love' reading.It makes me feel like I am swallowing up Christ, Homer, Confucius, Newton, Franklin, Socrates, Caesar, and the whole world into one gigantic invincible Sir Moffat. Mine is creative reading. I read building empires in mind. I pray I won't read and read and forget to marry.","author":"Moffat Machingura","tags":["books","caeser","christ","christianity","confucius","consume","creativity","diligence","eat","empire","feel-like","franklin","greatness","homer","invincible","love","love-reading","mind","moffat","newton","read","reading","reading-habits","sir-moffat","socrates","swallow","world"],"id":58701,"author_id":"Moffat+Machingura"},{"text":"Socrates should have written comics.","author":"Mark Waid","tags":["comics","philosophy","socrates"],"id":60528,"author_id":"Mark+Waid"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":57,"pages":6,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}