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
From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.
Interpretation
Deep desires can lead to intense hatred when unfulfilled or threatened.
This quote by Socrates suggests that our strongest emotions, such as deep desires or passions, can transform into negative feelings like hate when these desires are not met or become obstructed. It highlights the duality of human emotions and serves as a cautionary reminder about the potential consequences of unchecked desires.
In practice
During a speech on emotional intelligence, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of managing desires.
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.
The poets are only the interpreters of the gods.
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.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
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.
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.
Eager souls, mystics and revolutionaries, may propose to refashion the world in accordance with their dreams; but evil remains, and so long as it lurks in the secret places of the heart, utopia is only the shadow of a dream
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
The urge to revolt is one of the essential dimensions of human nature.
The perpetual obstacle to human advancement is custom.
One shouldn't ever be conscious of the author as lecturer. When social or moral points are too heavily stressed, I always get uncomfortable.
The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part of the authorities to act slowly and impersonally, in the manner of planets or vegetables.
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