83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (2024)

Here are the 83 most invaluable quotes from legendary Greek philosophers including luminaries like Socrates, Plato, Heraclitus and Aristotle who have shaped the foundations of modern thinking and societal norms.

The ancient Greeks introduced transformative concepts like democracy and theatre, reflecting their timeless wisdom and profound understanding of life.

These philosophers provided insights and teachings that, even today, inspire, guide and motivate individuals in various walks of life, including business.

The timeless wisdom conveyed through these quotes offers enduring lessons about character building, personal strength and the art of living.

Thus, this collection serves as a vital resource for those seeking motivational and philosophical guidance drawn from the rich tapestry of ancient Greek philosophy.

Top 10 Ancient Greek Quotes

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (1)

Gods know all things. ~ Homer.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (2)

Character is destiny. ~ Heraclitus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (3)

Man is the dream of a shadow. ~ Pindar.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (4)

Wisdom outweighs any wealth. ~ Sophocles.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (5)

Life is short, the art long. ~ Hippocrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (6)

Wrong timing is very dangerous. ~ Plutarch.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (7)

Success is dependent on effort. ~ Sophocles.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (8)

Withdraw into yourself and look. ~ Plotinus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (9)

Time is the soul of this world. ~ Pythagoras.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (10)

Man is the measure of all things. ~ Protagoras.

Also read: Greek Mythology Quotes and Plato Quotes.

Ancient Greek Quotes

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (11)

World is decay, life is perception. ~ Democritus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (12)

To find yourself, think for yourself. ~ Socrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (13)

As mortals we should behave as mortals. ~ Euripides.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (14)

Sweet is the memory of the sorrows past. ~ Euripides.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (15)

Silence is better than unmeaning words. ~ Pythagoras.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (16)

Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything. ~ Xenophon.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (17)

There is nothing permanent except change. ~ Heraclitus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (18)

The worst of all deceptions is self-deception. ~ Plato.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (19)

The world is knowable, harmonious, and good. ~ Plotinus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (20)

Much learning does not teach understanding. ~ Heraclitus.

Related: Greek Mythology Quotes and Sayings for Wisdom and Stoic Quotes about Stoicism from the Stoics

Greek Proverbs, Quotes, and Sayings

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (21)

History is Philosophy teaching by examples. ~ Thucydides.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (22)

The proper bulk is better than the big bulk. ~ Democritus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (23)

We are not separated from spirit, we are in it. ~ Plotinus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (24)

We became men once and one cannot become twice. ~ Epicurus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (25)

The energy of the mind is the essence of life. ~ Aristotle.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (26)

It is in virtue of unity that beings are beings. ~ Plotinus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (27)

What a wonderful being is the man if he is a man. ~ Menander.

Images for Ancient Greek Quotes

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (28)

A multitude of words is no proof of a prudent mind. ~ Thales.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (29)

Thy foolish passions: learn thou to subdue them. ~ Pythagoras.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (30)

Man is naturally deceitful ever, in every way! ~ Aristophanes.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (31)

He has the most who is most content with the least. ~ Diogenes.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (32)

The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself. ~ Thales.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (33)

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. ~ Hippocrates.

Quotes about Ancient Greek

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (34)

In all things of nature, there is something marvelous. ~ Aristotle.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (35)

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. ~ Aristotle.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (36)

The art of living well and the art of dying well are one. ~ Epicurus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (37)

Difficulties are things that show a person what they are. ~ Epictetus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (38)

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. ~ Diogenes.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (39)

Whatever comes from God is impossible for a man to turn back. ~ Herodotus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (40)

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. ~ Plutarch.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (41)

Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other. ~ Euripides.

Ancient Greek Quotes to Strengthen Your Character

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (42)

The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it. ~ Epictetus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (43)

No one that encounters prosperity does not also encounter danger. ~ Heraclitus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (44)

Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech. ~ Plutarch.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (45)

Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity. ~ Aristotle.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (46)

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. ~ Demosthenes.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (47)

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. ~ Epictetus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (48)

For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories. ~ Plato.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (49)

Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom. ~ Plato.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (50)

One thing I know, that I know nothing. This is the source of my wisdom. ~ Socrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (51)

If I had followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy. ~ Chrysippus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (52)

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. ~ Epictetus.

Best Greek Quotes From Famous Philosophers

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (53)

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. ~ Plato.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (54)

Everything existing in the universe is the fruit of chance and necessity. ~ Democritus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (55)

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~ Aristotle.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (56)

Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong. ~ Democritus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (57)

Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion. ~ Democritus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (58)

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. ~ Socrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (59)

Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes. ~ Antisthenes.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (60)

All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine. ~ Socrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (61)

Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details. ~ Heraclitus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (62)

Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains. ~ Democritus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (63)

Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. ~ Democritus.

Inspirational Quotes From Ancient Greece

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (64)

Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live. ~ Socrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (65)

The happy man is the one who has a healthy body, a wealthy soul and a well-educated nature. ~ Thales.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (66)

He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power. ~ Plato.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (67)

Hope is the only good that is common to all men; those who have nothing else possess hope still. ~ Thales.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (68)

There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot. ~ Plato.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (69)

When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it. ~ Socrates.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (70)

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. ~ Epictetus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (71)

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. ~ Heraclitus.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (72)

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances. ~ Aristotle.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (73)

Excess of grief for the dead is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not. ~ Xenophon.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (74)

I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. ~ Plutarch.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (75)

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence. ~ Democritus.

Good people do not need law to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. ~ Plato.

Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. ~ Plato.

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. ~ Pericles.

The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits. ~ Plutarch.

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist. ~ Epicurus.

It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men. ~ Thucydides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mZYOhYDQog&t=19s

So these were the 83 Quotes about Ancient Greek.

If you like these quotes, then you can also read our other posts on Trust in God Quotes and Reality of Life Quotes and Hard Working Husband Quotes.

83 Ancient Greek Quotes from Famous Philosophers (2024)
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