The Gadfly of Athens
Socrates according to Plato — the examined life, the spoken word, the death — and two echoes: Marcus Aurelius repeating his moral thesis, and Mill preferring him dissatisfied to a fool satisfied.
Day 1 of 7
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Plato, Apology
Day 2 of 7
“Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”
— Plato, The Republic
Day 3 of 7
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”
— Plato, Phaedo
Day 4 of 7
“No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.”
— Plato, Apology
Day 5 of 7
“He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Day 6 of 7
“The best revenge is not to copy him that wronged you.”
— Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Day 7 of 7
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
— John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism