Socrates was born in Athens to a family of ordinary citizens. He followed in his father's footsteps at an early age, working as a stone carver and later studying philosophy. He debated philosophical issues in Athens with many of the wise men of his time, mainly about ethics and morals as well as educational and political aspects. He was considered the wisest man of his time. As a citizen, he fought in the army three times and was tenacious and brave in war. In addition, he served as a juror in the Athenian Citizens' Assembly. After the restoration of slave-owning democracy in Athens, Socrates was charged and sentenced to death for defying traditional religion, introducing new gods, corrupting the youth and opposing democracy. He refused the advice of his friends and students who asked him to beg for pardon and to go on the run, and drank hemlock and died. In European cultural history he has been seen as a saint who died in the pursuit of truth, almost the same place that Confucius occupies in Chinese history. For many years he was regarded as an anti-democratic philosopher who defended the interests of a reactionary slave-owning aristocracy, and more recently there have been those who disagree.
As a teenager, Socrates learned his trade from his father, familiarized himself with the works of Homer's epics and other famous poets, and became a very learned man through self-education. He made his living by imparting knowledge, and in his thirties he became a teacher of social morality without pay or a library. Many sons and daughters of rich and poor families used to gather around him to learn from him and ask him for advice. Socrates, however, used to say, "I only know that I know nothing."
He spent most of his life outdoors. He liked to talk to people from all walks of life about a wide variety of issues, such as war, politics, friendship, art, ethics and morals, in public places such as the marketplace, the playing fields and the streets. He fought in three wars as a heavily armed infantryman, and more than once he came to the aid of a wounded soldier in battle, and at the age of about 40 he became a well-known figure in Athens from near and far.
Anecdotes
1. Debate
Socrates often debated with people. In debates, he used the question-and-answer format to make his opponents correct and abandon their original misconceptions and to help people generate new ideas. He abstracted the universal from the individual, taking four steps: ridicule, midwifery, generalization, and definition. "Ridicule" means to make the other party contradict himself and admit his ignorance of the issue through continuous questioning; "midwifery" means to help the other party to abandon his misconceptions and find something correct and universal, i.e., to help the truth to come into being; "generalization" means to make the other party correct and give up his original misconceptions from individual things and help him to produce new ideas. "that is, from the individual things to find ****, through the individual analysis and comparison to find the general law;" "definition" that is, a single concept to the general.
Socrates taught students also never give them ready-made answers, but the use of rhetorical questions and rebuttals to make the students unconsciously accept the influence of his ideas. Consider an interesting example of a question-and-answer session between him and a student.
Student: Socrates, what is a good deed?
SOCRATES: Stealing, cheating, and selling people as slaves, are these good or bad deeds?
Student: they are evil deeds.
SOCRATES: Is it an evil act to deceive an enemy? Is it an evil act to sell a captured enemy into slavery?
Student: it is a good deed. But I'm talking about friends and not enemies. SOCRATES: According to you, theft is an evil act against a friend. But if a friend is going to commit suicide and you steal the instrument he is going to use to commit suicide, is that an evil act? STUDENT: It is a good deed.
SOCRATES: You say that cheating on a friend is an evil act, but, in war, the commander of an army, in order to boost morale, says to his soldiers that reinforcements are coming. But in reality there are no reinforcements; is this deception an evil act?
Student: it is a good deed.
This method of teaching has its merits, it can inspire people's minds, make people take the initiative to analyze, think about the problem, he used dialectical method to prove that the truth is concrete, relative, under certain conditions can be transformed to its own opposite. This epistemology is of great significance in the history of European thought.
Governance
Socrates advocated the theory of expert governance, and he believed that all walks of life, and even state power, should be managed by trained and knowledgeable people, and opposed the democracy practiced by the method of election by lot. He said: The managers should not be those who hold power and bully people, not those who are elected by the people, but those who know how to manage. For example, a ship should be steered by those who know how to navigate it, and when spinning wool, women should manage the men because they know how to do it and the men do not. He also said that the best man is the one who is able to do his job. He who is skilled in farming is a good farmer; he who is skilled in medicine is a good doctor; and he who is skilled in politics is a good politician.
Execution
As a citizen of Athens, Socrates is said to have been sentenced to death by an Athenian court for disbelief in the gods and for corrupting the minds of Athenian youth. Although he was given the opportunity to flee Athens, Socrates chose to die by drinking poisonous cordial because he believed that fleeing would only further undermine the authority of Athenian law, and because he feared that if he fled, Athens would have no more good tutors to educate the people.
One evening in June, 399 BC, an old man in his seventies was about to be executed in an Athenian prison. He was seen in rags, radiating bare feet, while his face was calm and composed. After dismissing his wife and family, he chatted with some friends, seemingly oblivious to the impending execution. It was only when the jailer brought in a glass of poisoned juice that he stopped talking, took the glass, and drank it down. Afterwards, he lay down, smiled and said to his friend who came to say goodbye, he had eaten a neighbor's chicken, and had not paid for it, so please repay for him. After saying this, the old man closed his eyes peacefully and fell asleep. The old man was Socrates, the great philosopher.
Friends of Youth
Socrates loved to socialize with young people and hoped that they would receive a good education. He believed that when a person was educated, he would not only be happy himself and be able to manage his own household, but he would also make others and the city-state happy. He often gave different education to young people according to different situations. For those who are genetically superior and despise learning, Socrates told them that the better endowed they are, the more they should be educated. It is as if a strong and unruly stallion, if trained as a child, would become the most powerful and valiant horse of the thousand miles; otherwise, it would always be an incompetent horse that is difficult to handle. If a man is poorly educated, the stronger his will, the more likely he is to sin. To those who boast of their wealth and think that they do not need to be educated and that wealth will fulfill their heart's desire and bring them happiness, Socrates teaches that only fools think this way. Happiness, he points out, lies not in wealth, but in knowledge and in contributing to humanity. It is only in this way that one can gain the respect of people.
It is said that Plato's cousin Glaucon, when he was less than 20 years old, longed to be the leader of the government of a city-state, and to address a great number of people with great honor and style. In theory, it is not a bad thing for a young man to have such an ideal. Unfortunately, Glaucon's knowledge and talent in this area were lacking. Everyone in the family understands that he is over-ambitious, thinking about the wrong things, and is really afraid that he will venture into the pulpit and be dragged down and made a laughing stock. But none of them could persuade him not to do so. This matter was known to Socrates, and in view of the relationship with Plato, he decided to enlighten the uninformed youth.
One day, Socrates saw Glaucon walking toward him and called out from a distance; "Hey, Glaucon, I hear you're determined to be the leader of our city-state, is that true?" In order to make Glaucon happy to listen to his words, Socrates deliberately pretended to be very enthusiastic and chose the topic that Glaucon was most interested in.
"Yes. I do indeed, Socrates." Glaucon replied.
"That's great. If there is anything really good on earth, this is another good thing. For, if your purpose is accomplished, you will have whatever you wish to have; you will be able to help your friends; to make a name for your family, and to add honor to your country; and your fame, after it has spread through the whole city, will spread throughout all Greece, and even be renowned among the foreign nations. Then, wherever you go, you will be admired."
And sure enough, Glaucon was so pleased at these words that he stopped to talk with Socrates.
Seeing that Glaucon stayed, Socrates then said, "It seems obvious, Glaucon, that if you want to be honored by the people, you must contribute to the city-state."
"Just as you said." Glaucon replied.
Socrates then asked Glaucon to talk about his plans to make a contribution. While Glaucon was thinking, Socrates asked him if he would first make the city-state rich, and that the way to achieve that richness was to have more taxes. Glaucon agrees. Socrates then asks, "Where will the taxes come from? What is the total amount? What is the source of the shortfall? Glaucon replies that he has not thought about these questions. Afterwards, Socrates asks for his opinion on issues that must be considered in order to govern a country, such as expenditure cuts, defense forces, defense strategies, and food supplies. Glaucon either answered that he had not considered them, or that he was not sure, or that there was no need to take care of such matters personally.
Seeing Glaucon's difficulty, Socrates further enlightened him, saying, "The state and the family are one. The country is so populous that it is indeed difficult to talk about some of the problems, but if you can help one family, you can begin to help many more, so why don't you try to promote the welfare of your uncle's family?"
Glaucon said, "I can certainly be of help to them if my uncle will listen to my advice."
Socrates laughed; "What? You can't even convince your uncle, and you want to hope that the whole of Athens, including your uncle, will listen to you? Young man, be careful, you want to be famous, do not make a counterproductive ah! Look at the reality. In all things, those who are honored and praised are the most knowledgeable. On the contrary, they are the most ignorant. If you really want to be honored and praised in the city-state, try to acquire the widest knowledge of what you want to do. For only in this way will you be able to excel others; and when dealing with affairs, you will easily obtain your desired goal."
The haughty, leader-bent Glaucon was persuaded.
Socrates and his house
Once upon a time, there was a very wise man in Greece named Socrates. Young men from all over the country came to him to learn wisdom and intelligence from him. He told many happy stories. He told them in such a lively way that no one who listened to him was ever bored.
One summer he built a house for himself. The house was very small, and his neighbors wondered how it could please him.
"Is there any reason why you, such a great man, should build your house in such a small box?"
"Indeed there is no reason." He said, "But small as this place is, if I can make it hold true friends, I shall consider myself happy."
The Death of Socrates
In the year 399 B.C.E., as if a radiant figure were wandering through the wild and sprawling grass of Athens, Socrates, the immortal soul who never tired of carrying the oracles of the gods, could not help but send out an aura of rationality to those who came and went in haste. He was a citizen of a middle-class Athenian family, his father a sculptor and his mother a midwife. He was born at the moment of complete victory in the Hippocratic War, and grew up in the heyday of Pericles, at a time when wise men were gathering in Athens from all over Greece, bringing to democratic Athens much new knowledge and a new fashion for free argument. The young Socrates sought the advice of famous wise men such as Protagoras and Prodicus to discuss all kinds of important social and philosophical matters. He ushered in a new era of Greek philosophy with a fresh understanding of philosophy, and through his teachings came Plato and Aristotle, and new schools of thought such as Cynicism, which continued to influence the Hellenistic Roman era. Unimpressive in appearance but charismatic in speech, he spent his life in debate and taught philosophy to the youth, and in 399 B.C. he was convicted on charges of two main offenses: introducing a new god instead of honoring the gods honored by the city-state, and corrupting the youth. Friends intended to rescue him to escape from Athens, but he refused, believing that he had to abide by the laws of Athens because there was a sacred contract between him and the state that he could not break. Socrates believed that although you did not have to obey the laws of the city-state if they were unjust, you still had to submit to punishment if you broke them. Socrates did exactly that in no uncertain terms, and he felt such an obligation to obey the legitimate authority of the city-state and its laws that he accepted the death penalty quite consciously, discussing philosophical questions with his friends even on his deathbed. When the time came, he drank the poisoned wine peacefully and repaid his fatherland city-state with his life and philosophy at the age of 69. In the case of Socrates, one side was a great philosopher who pursued truth and sacrificed his life for justice, while the other side was the city-state of Athens, which boasted of democracy and freedom and was regarded as the source of democratic politics. Who is right and who is wrong, who is good and who is evil, is not so clear-cut, and the emotional trade-offs become a painful ordeal, thus its tragic color becomes more and more obvious.
Socrates' philosophy was integrated with his life practice, and his personal fate was inseparable from that of Athens. He pursued the ideal of the good for the sake of his fatherland, and his fatherland rewarded his contribution and fulfilled his philosophy with the death penalty. Socrates did not feel the slightest anger, fear or sorrow, but continued to exhort everything in his wise and sincere tone. He understood that he was a messenger of the gods, that it was all in the hands of the gods, that he had an unfinished part of his life, and that death would give him a perfect ending.
In ancient Greece, the law was regarded as the foundation of the security of the city-state, with the dignity of a goddess, and could be said to be the true protector of the city-state. Under the protection of this deity, the city-states of ancient Greece were governed by law, and no one was allowed to be above the law. Socrates believed that the law of the city-state was an agreement made by the citizens unanimously, and should be carried out unswervingly. Only by abiding by the law can the people work together and make the city-state strong and powerful, and strict adherence to the law is the fundamental guarantee of the people's happiness and the strength of the city-state, whose value is much higher than that of an individual's life.
Socrates also believed that the law, like the city-state, originated from the gods and was a principle set by the gods. Law was initially embodied in natural law, which is also known as the laws of nature, and it was purely a divine will or a deliberate arrangement by the gods. Later the laws enacted by the city-states were called human law. Although humanized law is not as universal as natural law, but rather fallible, because humanized law is derived from natural law, people's acceptance of and obedience to the guidance of humanized law means that people accept and obey the constraints of natural law, which is to say, they obey the will of God. The ideal state of a city-state must be one in which everyone abides by the law from within, and this was both the ideal and belief of Socrates' life and the inner motivation for his final generous martyrdom to the law.
Socrates was unjustly sentenced to death by his own compatriots, but still talked about "morality, justice, the law is the most precious, the rule of law is the most precious," that the value of life is nothing more than this, it is really a free spirit overflowing. Socrates was a hero who realized the power of moral ideals and consciously and voluntarily realized them, even if he sacrificed his life for it. His death was a tragedy, a tragedy in that both sides of the conflict had a reason to exist and were irreconcilable. So Socrates used his own body to take up this great conflict, to take up the responsibility and mission of the free personality. For Socrates, his cause was his spirit, and through him the spirit of self-awareness, voluntariness, self-discipline, and thus freedom, was brought to the fore.
Socrates loved the city-state of Athens, and he could not allow the most sacred ideals to be desecrated in the slightest, so he chose to die. It was not that he did not value his life, but he paid more attention to his soul, and he believed that God was omnipresent and omnipotent, and that everything was skillfully arranged by God in a conscious and purposeful manner. He did not betray God, in that case, death is also God's call to him, what is there for him to hesitate? Perhaps people laughed at him, laughed at his naiveté, laughed at his stubbornness and obstinacy, but only those who truly understood his inner world would be impressed by his wisdom and loyalty: wisdom is the unnoticed virtues that he saw and kept a close eye on, and loyalty is in his own love of the city and the state, in the law that he obeyed all his life, and in the pursuit of his unchanging ideals.
The Book of Common Pleading paints a clear picture of a man of great self-confidence, of a superior mind that does not mind worldly successes and failures, of a man who believes that he is guided by a divine voice, and of a man who is convinced that clarity of thought is the most important condition for right living. There does not seem to be any doubt that the historical Socrates did claim to be guided by a theistic or fateful god. Whether that was a voice of conscience, as Christians call it, or whether it was a real voice for Socrates, we have no way of knowing.
Before philosophy, the Homeric epics were the most popular and widely circulated repository of Greek cultural thought. It intertwined heroic tales with the activities of the humane gods, expressing the Greek imagination and worldview of life. In fact, most of the Greek gods and goddesses came from the countries of Western Asia and Egypt, from whom the Greeks received and then transformed them in their own way, organizing them in their own picture of the universe and life. And the Orphic myths and legends and religious teachings that were popular throughout Greece at about the same time as the emergence of philosophy, with their basic ideas of reincarnation and purification of the soul, exerted an extremely profound and tremendous influence on Pythagoras, Empedocles, Socrates, and Plato.
Socrates' doctrines were indeed characterized by mysticism. He believed that the survival, development and destruction of all kinds of things in heaven and on earth were ordained by the gods, and that the gods were the masters of the world. He opposed the study of nature as blasphemous. He advocated that people recognize the truth of being human and live a moral life. He defined philosophy as the "love of wisdom", and one of his key ideas was that one knows oneself to be ignorant. He concludes: "God alone is wise, and his reply is to show that human wisdom is of little or no value; God is not speaking of Socrates, but he merely uses my name as an illustration, as if to say, "Men, only he who, like Socrates, knows that his own wisdom is practically worthless is the wisest of men. " He was proud of his ignorance and believed that everyone should recognize their ignorance.
Socrates saw himself as a gift, a messenger, from the gods to the Athenians, tasked with going around all day talking to people, discussing problems, and searching for the truth and wisdom that would be most useful to man himself. The theme that runs through these discussions is to lead people to realize that they are in fact very ignorant in these matters of vital importance to them, and that they therefore need to seek through critical examination what is truly just and good, for the purpose of reforming their souls and saving the city and state. He also compares himself to a gadfly, a gift from God to Athens. The purpose of the gods in giving him to Athens was to stimulate the nation with this gadfly, for Athens was like a steed, but because of its fatness and laziness it had become sluggish and lethargic, and so it was in great need of a gadfly to keep a close watch on it, to chide and persuade it at all times and places, and so that it could be awakened from its lethargy and renewed in its spirit. Socrates saw criticizing Athens as a divine mission from the gods, and this sense of mission and the resulting thoughtful inquiry became the purpose of his life and philosophical practice. He knew that he would annoy many people who would trample the gadfly to death, but his mission from God could not be violated, so he risked his life.
Socrates does claim a new god who is the source of moral goodness and intellectual truth: the god of cosmic reason. This God of cosmic reason is the ultimate ground of Socrates' philosophical quest - the true good - that man can have knowledge because he has been specially cared for by the gods, endowed with a part of the divine nature, and thus has a soul, a mind and reason that love wisdom. But man should understand that the little soul you have is incomparable to the wisdom of God. Therefore, this new rational concept of God and the teaching that man should "know himself to be ignorant" became a powerful force that inspired and motivated man to pursue true knowledge and to criticize untruth and falsehood.
Aristotle also believed that the highest essence of existence is God, the good, and his statement is also from Socrates. The idea of God has always been the place of origin and home of Greek philosophy, and Greek philosophy has continued to change and purify people's original conception of God in its development; the two aspects interact with each other. As one of the most original philosophers, Socrates drew his wisdom and power to transform philosophy from the fear of the gods. He saw himself as a gift from the gods to the Athenians, a gadfly, a messenger with a divine mission to help people become good and wise. It was his reverent devotion to God and his love for man that spurred him on. Only in connection with his conception of God can we realize the profound meaning of the proposition of "self-knowledge and ignorance" that he advocated. The death of Socrates is a far-reaching event in the history of Western culture, as if it were a fable, a mystery. He planned his own way of death, sentenced himself to death in the name of legal justice in a great trial, and condensed the embers of his life into a death riddle, leaving a "Goldbach's Conjecture" in the humanities for future generations. Socrates seems to be in his own defense, but he also intends to find the truth in the death, his death seems to be a conspiracy of morality and law.
Socrates is the saint and martyr of philosophy, and no philosopher has ever been as obsessed with living a righteous life as he was. He lived one's life to the fullest, and from his life's experiences, we can be inspired to recognize that life will always face all kinds of encounters, there will be gains and losses, and that even when faced with injustice, it is important to accept it openly. More importantly, in order to live in the world, one should shift the focus of attention from the external to the internal. Socrates injected Greek philosophy with a strong heart, stirring up incomparably turbulent waves, the aftermath of which stretches even to the present day.
Socrates loved his country, Athens, loved the people of Athens, saw the Athenian city-state declining, the people's morale, he was very sad, determined to use his life's energy to save the fate of the motherland.
In order to defend his country, he fought in the army three times. In the battle, he was resourceful and brave, not only could he kill the enemy bravely, but also could protect his comrades, had twice risked his life to save his students and comrades. His comrades who fought with him said that they felt safe when they fought with Socrates. In the march Socrates especially hard-working. Once marching in the middle of winter, he wore thin clothes, barefoot on the ice, but and wearing shoes soldiers walk as well. He grew up paying attention to physical exercise, physical fitness, which for him to march and fight as if it were idle, defiantly laid a solid foundation.
In order to improve the morality of the Athenians and to create talents to rule the country, Socrates devoted himself to the study of philosophy and actively engaged in education.
Before him, Greek philosophy was mainly concerned with questions such as what is the origin of the universe and what is the world made of, which later was called "natural philosophy". Socrates thought that further study of these questions would be of little practical significance to the salvation of the nation. Out of concern for the fate of the country and the people, he turned to the study of mankind itself, that is, the study of human ethical issues, such as what is justice, what is injustice; what is bravery, what is cowardice; what is honesty, what is hypocrisy; what is wisdom, how to get knowledge; what is the state, what qualities of people can rule the country, how to cultivate talents to rule the country, and so on. Later people called Socrates' philosophy "ethical philosophy". He created a new field for philosophical research and brought philosophy "back to earth from heaven", which is of great significance in the history of philosophy.
Socrates was a lifelong educator, with rich practical experience in education and his own educational theories. But he did not start his own school. So where did he teach? How did he teach? Plazas, temples, streets, stores, workshops, gymnasiums, and so on, were all places where he taught. The young, the old, the rich, the poor, the peasants, the craftsmen, the nobles, the commoners, all were his subjects, and whoever asked him to teach, he did so with enthusiasm. The other teachers of the time, the wise men, charged tuition, and they used being teachers as a means of earning money, whereas Socrates taught without tuition; he taught for the benefit of the city-state, and was a voluntary teacher, and so Socrates lived in poverty all his life.
Socrates made his own claims about the meaning, purpose, content and method of education.
He believed that education was very important for a person's growth. He believed that both the more naturally intelligent and the more naturally dull, if they were determined to achieve something worthy of the name, they had to learn diligently in order to do so.
The aim of Socrates' education was to create men who would rule the country. After the death of Pericles, Athens, because of the lack of good leaders, democracy became ultra-democratized and anarchic, and even the leaders of the state were chosen by lot or by drawing lots. Socrates was very saddened by this. He believed that the talents for ruling a country must be well educated, and advocated the cultivation of talents for ruling a country through education. In order to cultivate talents to rule the country, he gave his life's energy.
On the content of education, he advocated that first of all, we should cultivate human virtues and teach people to learn how to behave and become virtuous. Secondly, people should be taught to learn broad and practical knowledge. He believed that those who govern must have broad knowledge. In all things, he said, those who are honored and praised are those who have the most extensive knowledge, while those who are condemned and despised are those who are the most ignorant. Finally, he advocated teaching people to exercise their bodies. He believed that a healthy body was important for physical and mental activity in both peacetime and wartime. And a healthy body is not innate; only through exercise can one be made physically strong.
In the method of teaching, Socrates through long-term teaching practice, formed his own set of unique teaching method, people called "Socratic method", he himself called "maternity". His mother was a midwife, and he used this as a metaphor for his teaching method. His mother's method was to deliver babies, but his method was to deliver ideas, to lead people to the right ideas.
The Socratic Method is a question-and-answer session between teacher and student, which is why it is also called the "question-and-answer method". When Socrates taught students to acquire certain concepts, he did not tell them directly, but first asked them questions and let them answer them. If they answered wrongly, he did not correct them directly, but asked another question to guide them to think, so that they could arrive at the correct conclusion step by step.
The question-and-answer method advocated by Socrates has had a great influence on later generations, and until today, the question-and-answer method is still an important teaching method. The "method of discovery" advocated by Rousseau, Bruner and others was also clearly inspired by the Socratic method.
Because Socrates insisted on truth and justice, he often criticized the corruption of the Athenian ruling class, and even criticized some of the highest leaders, and was therefore hated by them. When he was 70 years old, he was sentenced to death by the rulers of Athens for "dishonoring the gods" and "corrupting the youth". His students and friends repeatedly urged him to flee Athens and arranged a foolproof escape plan for him. But he firmly refused. He believed that, although the charges against him were purely false, he was a citizen of Athens and should abide by the laws of Athens. The day of the execution, to visit his students and friends and relatives are very sad, but he was calm and collected, laughing and joking, and finally from the hands of the executioner took the poisoned wine, a drink, calmly to death. Although Gladys is a great philosopher and educator in ancient Greece, but he himself did not leave a book, we can only learn from his students, such as Plato, Xenophon and other people's writings to understand his words and thoughts. This is quite similar to Confucius, the great philosopher and educator of ancient China. Confucius was also a "narrator without writing" and did not leave any writings. Had it not been for his disciples and his re-disciples organizing and compiling his life's words and deeds into the book "The Analects of Confucius", we would have no way of knowing about Confucius' activities and thoughts today.
Plato asked his teacher Socrates one day what love was
Socrates told him to go out into the wheat field once
to walk without looking back
and on the way to pick the biggest and best sheaf of wheat
but only once
Plato thought that it would be easy
to go out with confidence
who knows that
After half a day he did not return
At last, he appeared before the teacher with his head hanging down and told him the reason why he had come back empty-handed:
"It is very rare that I see one that looks good, but I don't know whether it is the best or not.
It was necessary to give it up and see if there was a better one, because I could only pick it once.
Then, after realizing that he had already come to the end of the road, he found no ears of wheat in his hand.
Plato thought it would be easy and went out confidently.
Then Socrates tells him:
"That is love."
Plato asks his teacher Socrates one day what marriage is
Socrates tells him to go to the wood of the forest of Bun and walk through it once
without looking back
and on the way to get the best tree, the most suitable for a Christmas tree
but only the one that is best suited to a Christmas tree
But only the one that is best suited to a Christmas tree
Socrates says, "I'll take it once.
But only once
Plato had learned his lesson last time
and went out with confidence
After half a day, he dragged, all tired, a fir tree that looked straight and green, but a little spindly
Socrates asked him, " Is this the best tree for the tree? "
Plato replied to the teacher:
" Because only one tree can be taken, and it was hard to see one that looked good and realized that time and strength were
almost not enough, and didn't care if it was the best or not, so he took it back
At this point, Socrates told him:
" That's what marriage is all about."
Plato had another One day he asked his teacher Socrates again what an affair was
Socrates still told him to take a walk in the woods
and to go back and forth
and on the way to pick up the best-looking flower
Plato went out again with confidence
and two hours later he brought back a brightly-colored, but slightly absent, flower in a high state of mind
Socrates asked him: " This is a marriage," he said. Socrates asked him, " Is this the best flower? "
Plato replied to the teacher:
" I searched for two hours, and found this to be the most blooming and beautiful flower, but on my way back from picking it,
it withered away
at this point, Socrates told him:
" That's the affair"
Another day, again, he asked the teacher what Socrates was living
and asked the teacher what he was living
Socrates asked the teacher what was life
Socrates asked the teacher what was life.
Socrates still told him to go once to the woods
and he could go back and forth
and on the way he was to take the best-looking flower
Plato had learned his lesson from before
and went out again with confidence
After three days and three nights he did not come back.
Socrates had to go into the woods to look for him, and finally found that Plato had set up camp in the woods.
Socrates asked him, " Did you find the most beautiful flower? "
Plato pointed to a flower at the edge and said, " This is the most beautiful flower. "
Socrates asked, " Why don't you take it out? "
Plato replies to the teacher:
" If I pick it, it withers immediately. Even if I do not pick it, it withers sooner or later. So
I will live by it while it is still in full bloom. And when it wilts, look for the next one. This has
been the second best looking flower I've ever found. "
At this point, Socrates tells him:
" You already know the true meaning of life"