Sextus Empiricus Quotes

Sextus Empiricus on Death

• “If Socrates died, then either he died when he was living, or when he was dead. But he couldn't have died when he was living, for he was not dead when he was living. But he couldn't have died when he was dead, for when he was dead he had already died. Therefore, Socrates never died.”

  Sextus Empiricus quoted in Introduction to Logic by Paul Herrick (2013)

Sextus Empiricus on God

• “Furthermore, as regards what is said by Euripides about the gods, ordinary folk too hold the same opinion. For the sentence— Whoe'er of mortals, sinning day by day, Deemeth the gods are blind to his misdeeds, Thinks evil thoughts and thinking thus is caught When Justice, haply, has some leisure time— is matched by the sentence commonly quoted: The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small [ὀψὲ θεῶν ἀλέουσι μύλοι, ἀλέουσι δὲ λεπτά]— for the difference is only in the metre.”

  Against the Professors i.287. The saying was apparently known to Plutarch about a century earlier; see On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance .

• “Against the Professors i.287. The saying was apparently known to Plutarch about a century earlier; see On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance .”

  Furthermore, as regards what is said by Euripides about the gods, ordinary folk too hold the same opinion. For the sentence— Whoe'er of mortals, sinning day by day, Deemeth the gods are blind to his misdeeds, Thinks evil thoughts and thinking thus is caught When Justice, haply, has some leisure time— is matched by the sentence commonly quoted: The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedin

Sextus Empiricus on Happiness

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “Tranquillity follows the suspension of judgement, just as a shadow follows the body.”

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “The end of skepticism is tranquillity.”

Sextus Empiricus on Knowledge

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “We do not seek to overturn what is presented as the experience of others.”

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “The Skeptic, in fact, had the same experience which is said to have befallen the painter Apelles, who, despairing of representing the foam of his subject, threw his sponge at the picture and produced the very effect he had failed to achieve.”

• “Pyrrhonic Sketches , as translated by Mary Mills Patrick (1899)”

  It is probable that those who seek after anything whatever, will either find it as they continue the search, will deny that it can be found and confess it to be out of reach, or will go on seeking it. Some have said, accordingly, in regard to the things sought in philosophy, that they have found the truth, while others have declared it impossible to find, and still others continue to seek it. Thos

• “Sextus Empiricus quoted in Introduction to Logic by Paul Herrick (2013)”

  If Socrates died, then either he died when he was living, or when he was dead. But he couldn't have died when he was living, for he was not dead when he was living. But he couldn't have died when he was dead, for when he was dead he had already died. Therefore, Socrates never died.

• “Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Scepticism , circa 160-210 CE”

  Wikiquote

Read all Sextus Empiricus quotes on Knowledge

Sextus Empiricus on Mind

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “Suspension of judgement is a state of mental rest, owing to which we neither deny nor affirm anything.”

Sextus Empiricus on Truth

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “We oppose appearances to appearances, or thoughts to thoughts, or alternately appearances to thoughts.”

• Attributed to Sextus Empiricus:

  “To every account an equal account is opposed.”