QuoteProject
When a Benefit is wrongly conferred, the author of the Benefit may often be said to injure.
Plato
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Misplaced kindness can lead to harm rather than help.

This quote by Plato highlights a fundamental philosophical idea that good intentions do not always lead to positive outcomes. When someone offers a benefit or kindness without fully understanding the situation or the recipient's needs, it can result in unintended harm, suggesting the importance of wisdom and discernment in our actions.

Themes

BenefitKindnessHarmWisdomIntention

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate about ethical decision-making, one might use this quote to illustrate the complexity of intent versus outcome.

More from Plato

Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow... even if that someone is yourself!
PlatoRead
Not one of them who took up in his youth with this opinion that there are no gods ever continued until old age faithful to his conviction.
PlatoRead
...for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty.
PlatoRead
Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil.
PlatoRead
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
PlatoRead
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
PlatoRead

Similar quotes

Among those who share a throne there can be no loyalty; Dominion's ever impatient consort.
LucanRead
At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.
Gore VidalRead
Our collective future depends on opening channels of compassion, acceptance, and understanding of others.
Deepak ChopraRead
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work- I am the grass; I cover all. And pile them high at Gettysburg. And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years,and passengers ask the conductor- What place is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work.
Carl SandburgRead
Writing is a political instrument.
James A. BaldwinRead
To be human and to be adult means constantly to be in the grip of opposing emotions, to have daily to reconcile apparently conflicting tensions. I want this, but need that. I cherish this, but I adore its opposite too.
Stephen FryRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.