Plato (c. 428 BCE – c. 348 BCE) was a Greek philosopher, writer, teacher, public speaker, and Socrates’ most brilliant student. Because there aren’t any biographical sources from his time, we can know more about him from his writings and biographies were written 500 years after his death.

Plato‘s philosophy forms much of the foundation of Western civilization. He laid the groundwork for ethics, aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, and early forms of science. We’ve crafted this selection of profound Plato quotes to bring you closer to the wisdom of his philosophy.