If a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the Muses, believing that technique alone will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the performances of the inspired madman.

There is but one evil, ignorance.

A man can no more make a safe use of wealth without reason than he can of a horse without a bridle.

In my investigation in the service of the god I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient, while those who were thought to be inferior were more knowledgeable.

There are a great many of these accusers, and they have been accusing me now for a great many years, and what is more, they approached you at the most impressionable age, when some of you were children or adolescents; and literally won their case by default, because there was no one to defend me.

Virtue does not come from wealth, but wealth, and every other good thing which men have comes from virtue.

I only know one thing, and that is I know nothing