Plato on Discipline Quotes

"Since those who rule in the city do so because they own a lot, I suppose they're unwilling to enact laws to prevent young people who've had no discipline from spending and wasting their wealth, so that by making loans to them, secured by the young people's property, and then calling those loans in, they themselves become even richer and more honored. 555c, G. Grube and C. Reeve, trans., Plato: Complete Works (1997), p. 1166"

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."

"Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable."

"Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns."

"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something."

"The first and best victory is to conquer self."

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

"Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice."

"Excess of liberty, whether it lies in Nations or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of servitude."

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile."

"The true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention."

"Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as it has first resided in the hearts and souls of the citizens."

"Character is simply habit long continued."

"The most important part of education is right training in the nursery."

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer oneself; to be conquered by oneself is of all things most shameful and vile."