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
Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Choose friends carefully and commit to those relationships fully.
Socrates emphasizes the importance of being cautious when forming friendships, advocating for a thoughtful selection of friends, and once a true friendship is established, it should be nurtured with steadfast loyalty and consistency. This highlights the balance between discernment in choosing companions and the dedication required to maintain meaningful connections.
Themes
FriendshipLoyaltyCommitmentCautionRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of building strong relationships, one might say, 'As Socrates wisely noted, be slow to fall into friendship; but when you are in, remain steadfast.'
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
Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.
Henry David ThoreauRead
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.
Charles KingsleyRead
I love the Sonoma wine community. It's like Pixar - nothing competitive, only supportive. They're always rooting for you.
John LasseterRead
Go up close to your friend, but do not go over to him! We should also respect the enemy in our friend.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
I think that women definitely have a special bond as friends that is hard to describe to men, and we don't often see that portrayed narratively.
Ava DuvernayRead
So it was, my dear Watson, that at two o'clock today I found myself in my old armchair in my own old room, and only wishing that I could have seen my old friend Watson in the other chair which he has so often adorned. - Sherlock Holmes.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead