Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man Quotes

“The unexamined life is not worth living,’ said Socrates famously, in a saying that has constituted the fundamental self-justification of many a professional and armchair philosopher. There is much to be said for a life lived in the unremitting pursuit of truth. These words are not, however, an unambiguous confirmation of the life of the mind. Socrates uttered them not in a moment of calm reflection but at his trial for corruption of Athenian youth and for impiety, having been found guilty and condemned to death by drinking hemlock. While the unexamined life is not worth living, then, might not the over-examined life be unliveable too?”
― Andrew Lynn, Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man

“How to live well? There is no more important question than this. The difficulty is not in finding an answer. Everybody (and their dog) is willing to give you an answer. But the answer they give is invariably their answer. It may be the answer reflecting their particular prejudices and preoccupations at this particular time. It may be the answer pointing in the direction of their particular commercial or political objectives. Or it may simply be the answer most widely circulated and – seemingly at least – widely accepted by the public at large.”
― Andrew Lynn, Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man

“Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, seashores, and mountains; and you too are wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you shall choose to retire into yourself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind.”
― Andrew Lynn, Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man

“we become builders by building, and harpers by harping. And so by doing just acts we become just, and by doing acts of temperance and courage we become temperate and courageous.”
― Andrew Lynn, Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man

“We may admire the great institutions of the world but we forget that each of them was initiated, at one point, by a single thought.”
― Andrew Lynn, Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man

“Goodness is simple, ill takes any shape.”
― Andrew Lynn, Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man