A system of morality that is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception that has nothing sound in it and nothing true.
SocratesRead
Man's life is like a drop of dew on a leaf.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is fleeting and fragile, much like a drop of dew.
In this quote, Socrates uses the imagery of a drop of dew, which is transient and vulnerable, to illustrate the brevity and delicacy of human existence. It serves as a reminder that life can be both beautiful and fragile, and encourages us to cherish the moments we have, as they can vanish quickly and unexpectedly.
Themes
LifeFragilityTransienceExistenceImpermanence
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech, one might say this quote to remind graduates to value each moment.
More from Socrates
All quotes βThe poets are only the interpreters of the gods.
SocratesRead
I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.
SocratesRead
The unexamined life is not worth living.
SocratesRead
When I was young, I believed that life might unfold in an orderly way, according to my hopes and expectations. But now I understand that the Way winds like a river, always changing, ever onward.. My journeys revealed that the Way itself creates the warrior; that every path leads to peace, every choice to wisdom. And that life has always been, and will always be, arising in Mystery.
SocratesRead
Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued." "It is not living that matters, but living rightly. The unexamined life is not worth living.
SocratesRead
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It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
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People are lonely. The network is seductive. But if we are always on, we may deny ourselves the rewards of solitude.
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A subject which at first glance seems quite removed from the undeclared concern of the book can encapsulate that concern.
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People just overshoot trying to find God. They're going outside and trying everything. They don't realize that it's right inside themselves.
Dolly PartonRead
It is indolence... Indolence and love of ease; a want of all laudable ambition, of taste for good company, or of inclination to take the trouble of being agreeable, which make men clergymen. A clergyman has nothing to do but be slovenly and selfish; read the newspaper, watch the weather, and quarrel with his wife. His curate does all the work and the business of his own life is to dine.
Jane AustenRead