哲學之父Plato的20句名言

Plato，中文譯作柏拉圖，常被冠以西方哲學之父的美名。他於公元427年公元前出生在古希臘標誌性的雅典城邦，一生獻身於哲學探討。現被認為是西方第一位嚴格意義上的哲學家。同時，他也創辦了西方世界的第一所學校——The Academy。（註：Academy在希臘語中是Akadēmeia，是柏拉圖的學校所在花園的名稱。後世英文Academy／學院一詞由此而來。）

柏拉圖在 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy（斯坦福大學哲學百科全書）中被稱為：

one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy.

文學中最奪人的筆者；哲學中最尖銳，最廣泛，最具有影響力的思想。

同時 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 中的教授也對柏拉圖做出以下評價。

Few other authors in the history of Western philosophy approximate him in depth and range: perhaps only Aristotle (who studied with him), Aquinas and Kant would be generally agreed to be of the same rank.

整個西方哲學家史上只有寥寥幾人可與柏拉圖思想的深度與視界之廣泛媲美。目前僅有亞里斯多德（其老師），阿奎奈，康德三位被承認為是與柏拉圖同階級的學者。

以下為20句流傳至今幾千年的柏拉圖名句，其中濃縮了柏拉圖所悟的愛情觀、人生觀、知識觀等。雖然有些嚴肅，有些帶有幽默，但句句都值得思考，讓現代人透過古老賢智者的雙眼重審世界。

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——1——

People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.

他人宛如淤泥。可吸取其中的精華而成長；亦可被其淹沒而窒息。

——2——

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

一個恐懼黑暗的孩童不可悲，可悲的是這個孩子成長為恐懼光明的大人之時。

——3——

Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.

既使世間無法律，善人也依然行善；既使有法律，惡徒也總會找到凌駕於法律之上的方法。

——4——

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

「 美 」不存在於世界；「 美 」居於觀看世界的雙眸。

——5——

An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.

敲響一個空的容器會產生最大的聲音。人也是同樣，頭腦越空越是滔滔不絕。

——6——

Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.

行善不但會驅使他人行善，也會使行善者變得強大。

——7——

There is in every one of us, even those who seem to be most moderate, a type of desire that is terrible, wild, and lawless.

在我們每個人中，即使是最平凡的人，都有一股野蠻，兇殘，目無法紀的勢力蠢蠢欲動。

——8——

The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.

正直之人對國家政治無顧，即會付出被歹徒統治的代價。

——9——

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

切不可生硬地強迫一個孩子學習；引導孩子去探尋他本身好奇的事情就夠了。如果你能做如此，你將會發現每個孩子中都棲息著一位瑰異的天才。

——10——

Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act 『rightly』 because we are 『excellent』, in fact we achieve 『excellence』 by acting 『rightly『.

優秀不是天賦，是一個需磨練的技能。優秀之人並非因為自身的「優秀」而作出「正確」的選擇，但是因為積累「正確」的選擇才變得「優秀」。

——11——

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.

財產上最大的富有莫過於對自身財產的滿足。

——12——

Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.

永遠不要譏諷一個在努力進步的人，無論他的進步顯得如何緩慢、可笑。

——13——

If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.

我們既然要求女人作出與男人相等的工作，為何不給予女人與男人相等的教育與機會？

——14——

There is truth in wine and children.

美酒與孩童中含著世界的真理。

——15——

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.

賢慧者因需要說話而開口，愚昧者因需開口而說話。

——16——

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

世人的行為被三力驅使：對美好的渴望，需發泄的情緒，與理性的知識。具體被哪種力制裁，由你自己決定。

——17——

Everything that deceives may be said to enchant.

能夠欺騙一個人的事物一定也是令他陶醉的事物。

——18——

Love is born into every human being; it calls back the halves of our original nature together; it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature.

人們降生時都含著愛。愛將我們丟失的另一半歸回到身邊；愛使兩個碎缺的個體合為一個完整的存在；愛彌補了人性的瑕疵。

——19——

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

謊言不但自身邪惡；它也會感染靈魂，使口吐謊言的人漸至邪惡。

——20——

Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.

獲得另一顆心的回復之前，每一顆心都謳歌著一首殘缺的曲子。想要謳歌的人總能尋到屬於自己的曲子。當所愛之人的身姿映在瞳中時，世人皆成詩人。

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