Book Excerpts
Selected passages from books connected with this theme.
The Republic, Book VII
Plato · -380
# Plato — The Allegory of the Cave
*From The Republic, Book VII*
*c. 380 BC*
**SOCRATES:** And now, I said, let me show you in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened.
Imagine human beings l …
Socrates' apology
Socrates
(by Plato)
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
(an excerpt)
I have said enough in my defence against the first class of my accusers; I turn to the second class, who are headed by Meletus, that good and patriotic man, as …
Meditations
Aurelius Marcus · 180
Excerpts
Book 2
Tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, an …
The Analects
Confucius
(excerpts from Book I)
CHAPTER I.
1. The Master said, 'Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?
2. 'Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?'
3. 'Is he not …
Pensées (Thoughts)
Pascal · 1670
(excerpts)
We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up, or we recall the past as if to stay its too rapid flight. We a …
The Book of Words
Kunanbaev · 1898
[The Beginning and the End of the Book]
WORD 1
What a wonderful world the Creator has given us...
For better or for worse, I have lived my life, traveling a long road filled with struggles and disputes, quarrels …
The Analects
Confucius
BOOK II. WEI CHANG.
CHAP. I.
The Master said, 'He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.'
CHAP. II.
The M …
Moralia
Plutarch
Selected Excerpts
(In this remarkable essay from Moralia, Plutarch questions the morality of eating meat and argues that humans have no natural need to kill animals for food. His reflections make him one of the earlie …
Meditations
Aurelius Marcus · 180
BOOK 4
Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, at the seashore, and in the mountains; and you tend to desire such things very much. But this is a characteristic of the most common sort of men, for i …