QuoteProject
I am quite ready to acknowledge . . . that I ought to be grieved at death, if I were not persuaded that I am going to other gods who are wise and good (of this I am as certain as I can be of any such matters), and to men departed who are better than those whom I leave behind. And therefore I do not grieve as I might have done, for I have good hope that there is yet something remaining for the dead.
Socrates
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Socrates expresses acceptance of death, believing in a better existence afterward.

In this quote, Socrates reflects on his attitude towards death, suggesting that rather than being overwhelmed with grief, he finds comfort in the belief that he will be joining wise and good deities, as well as virtuous individuals who have passed away. This perspective allows him to confront death with hope and acceptance, seeing it not as an end, but as a transition to a potentially greater existence.

Themes

DeathBeliefHopeAfterlifeAcceptance

In practice

Example use cases

A motivational speaker could use this quote to discuss overcoming fear of the unknown.

More from Socrates

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
The 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

In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time. The first is as rigid and metallic as a massive pendulum of iron that swings back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The second squirms and wriggles like a bluefish in a bay. The first is unyielding, predetermined. The second makes up its mind as it goes along.
Alan LightmanRead
What scares me about drone strikes is how they are perceived around the world. The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes... is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who've never seen one or seen the effects of one.
Stanley A. McchrystalRead
What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.
Flannery O'ConnorRead
I am Envy...I cannot read and therefore wish all books burned.
Christopher MarloweRead
The eyes of some persons are large, others small, and others of a moderate size; the last-mentioned are the best. And some eyes are projecting, some deep-set, and some moderate, and those which are deep-set have the most acute vision in all animals; the middle position is a sign of the best disposition.
AristotleRead
If men would consider not so much wherein they differ, as wherein they agree, there would be far less of uncharitableness and angry feeling in the world.
Joseph AddisonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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