"Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue--to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak." ~ Socrates
Questioning is the beginning of wisdom...
Greek philosopher Socrates, born on this day in 469 B.C., was considered one of the wisest of all time. Through his questioning and honest dialogues, the renown philosopher sought to find what was true and good in life.
"He is richest who is content with the least," he said.
A muse to the philosophers Plato and Aristippus, Socrates spent much of his life in conversation in the marketplace, exploring an argument to its conclusion. He boldly questioned accepted conventions.
"There is no illness of the body apart from the mind," he once observed.
His method of inquiry was to first ponder by posing a question... Then suggest a hypothesis or possible answer...Next, test and refute the hypothesis through extensive questioning, listening, and cross-examination... Accept the hypothesis as true or explore counter-examples... And finally act accordingly.
"The unexamined life is not worth living," Socrates observed. He celebrated knowledge and virtue. His dialogues of ethical, social, and political inquiry became the foundation of Western thinking.
More SOCRATES Quotations