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
No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest; yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Socrates points out the irony that while people train for many professions, they often believe they are fit to govern without any formal education or experience.
In this quote, Socrates highlights a fundamental contradiction in human nature: individuals take the time to learn and prepare for various trades and professions, recognizing the need for expertise in those areas. However, when it comes to the complex and impactful role of governance, many assume they are inherently qualified despite lacking the necessary education or training, which can lead to poor decision-making and chaos in society.
Themes
GovernmentQualificationIronyPhilosophyPreparedness
In practice
Example use cases
In a political debate, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of experience in leadership.
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
Similar quotes
Much work is merely a way to make money; much leisure is merely a way to spend it.
C. Wright MillsRead
Everything is political. I will never be a politician or even think political. Me just deal with life and nature. That is the greatest thing to me.
Bob MarleyRead
I have a really interesting political point of view, and its not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you cant go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You cant. I wouldnt wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since.
Robert Downey, Jr.Read
He who treasures his body as much as the world can care for the world.
LaoziRead
All manifest life seems to require a period of sleep, of calm, in which to gain added strength, renewed vigour, for the next manifestation, or awakening to activity. Thus is the march of all progress, of all manifest life - in waves, successive waves, [of] activity and repose. Waves succeed each other in an endless chain of progression.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the 'wall of separation between church and state,' therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.
Thomas JeffersonRead