Plato Quotes on Mind
In the Phaedo, Plato treats the rational soul as essentially distinct from the body — a tenant whose activity is purer when most disengaged from the senses, and which survives bodily death to undergo philosophical purification. The Republic divides the soul into three parts — reason, spirit, and appetite — whose proper ordering under reason constitutes psychological justice. The Phaedrus extends the analysis with the chariot allegory, in which the rational charioteer must master the unruly horse of appetite alongside the noble horse of spirit.
Quotes
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“Philosophy begins in wonder.”
155d, The Dialogues of Plato , Volume 3, 1871, p. 377 -
Attributed to Plato:
“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.”
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Attributed to Plato:
“When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself.”
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Attributed to Plato:
“Geometry will draw the soul toward truth and create the spirit of philosophy.”
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“Some say that the body is the " tomb " of the soul , their notion being that the soul is buried in the present life ; and again, because by its means the soul gives any signs which it gives, it is for this reason also properly called "sign". But I think it most likely that the Orphic poets gave this name, with the idea that the soul is undergoing punishment for something; they think it has the body as an enclosure to keep it safe, like a prison, and this is, as the name itself denotes, the "safe" for the soul, until the penalty is paid, and not even a letter needs to be changed.”
400b–c -
“Perception and knowledge could never be the same.”
186e -
“Neither perception nor true opinion, nor reason or explanation combined with true opinion could be knowledge… Then our art of midwifery declare to us that all the offspring that have been born are mere wind-eggs and not worth rearing… and if you remain barren, you will be less harsh and gentler to your associates, for you will have the wisdom not to think you know that which you do not know.”
210a-c -
“I do see one large and grievous kind of ignorance, separate from the rest, and as weighty as all the other parts put together. Thinking that one knows a thing when one does not know it. Through this, I believe, all the mistakes of the mind are caused in all of us.”
229c