Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow... even if that someone is yourself!
Justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Justice often favors those in power rather than being a true representation of fairness.
This quote by Plato suggests that what we consider 'justice' may not be an objective moral standard, but rather a construct that serves the interests of those who hold power. It implies that those who are stronger or more influential often shape the laws and definitions of justice, leading to a system that benefits them while potentially oppressing the weaker individuals. Plato challenges us to reflect on the foundations of our moral and legal beliefs and whether they truly represent fairness or are merely a reflection of power dynamics.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about social justice and inequality.
More from Plato
All quotes βNot 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.
...for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty.
Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil.
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
Similar quotes
Without doubt, the Lord grants all favors which are asked of Him in Mass, provided they be fitting for us.
No society can exist if respect for the law does not to some extent prevail; but the surest way to have the laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality are in contradiction, the citizen finds himself in the cruel dilemma of either losing his moral sense or of losing respect for the law, two evils of which one is as great as the other, and between which it is difficult to choose.
A billion years or so into eternity, how many toys we accumulated during this life will not seem too terribly important.
Solitude is a human presumption. Every quiet step is thunder to beetle life underfoot, a tug of impalpable thread on the web pulling mate to mate and predator to prey, a beginning or an end. Every choice is a world made new for the chosen.
I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people's politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true.
The human brain cannot encompass total absence. Like infinity, it is simply not something that the organ runs to. The space someone leaves must be filled, so we dream forever of those who are no longer here. Our minds make them live again.