柏拉图在西方哲学的历史地位几乎无人能企及，他的著作和思想对后世有着极其巨大的影响。在西方哲学的各个学派中，很难找到没有吸收过他的著作的学派。有的哲学史家认为，直到近代，西方哲学才逐渐摆脱了柏拉图思想的控制。

    下面摘选出柏拉图的20句名言，希望这位伟大哲人的思想能激励我们奋斗不息。

1 The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful¹ and vile².
Victory:胜利
Conquer:征服；战胜
Vile:可鄙的；

2. To love rightly is to love what is orderly and beautiful in an educated and disciplined way.
Educated:有教养的
Disciplined:训练有素的；有纪律的

3. Rhetoric³ is the art of ruling the minds of men.
Rhetoric:修辞学

4. Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy⁴ of great anxiety.
Affair:事情；事件
Anxiety:焦虑

5. I exhort⁵ you also to take part in the great combat, which is the combat of life, and greater than every other earthly conflict.
Exhort:勉励；劝诫
Combat:战斗
Earthly:世俗的
Conflict:冲突；争斗

6. I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.
Accident:偶然

7. If a man neglects education, he walks lame⁶ to the end of his life.
Neglect:
Lame:瘸腿的

8. It is a common saying, and in everybody's mouth, that life is but a sojourn⁷.
Sojourn:（书面语）逗留

9. Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind.
Acquire:获取
Compulsion: 强迫

10. Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement⁸ of the Gods.
Amazement:惊奇； 动词amaze

11. No law or ordinance⁹ is mightier¹⁰ than understanding.
Ordinance:命令

12. He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition¹¹ youth and age are equally a burden.
Disposition:性情；气质

13. All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality, and with greater ease, when each man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural gifts, and at the right moment, without meddling¹² with anything else.
Superior:优良的；高级的
Meddle:干涉
Occupation:职业

14. Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation¹³.
prosperous: 富足的；繁荣的；
Abundant:充裕的
Cultivation:耕耘； 动词 cultivate

15. Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards¹⁴ and leads us from this world to another.
Astronomy:天文学
Compel:促使；驱使

16. Attention to health is life’s greatest hindrance¹⁵.
Hindrance:阻碍

17. Courage is a kind of salvation¹⁶.
salvation:救赎；拯救

18. For good nurture¹⁷ and education implant¹⁸ good constitutions.
Nurture:培养
Implant:注入
Constitution:性格；素质

19. People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt¹⁹ your growth and make you wilt²⁰ and die.
Nourish:滋养
Stunt:阻碍
Wilt:凋零

20. Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence²¹.
Bequeath:遗赠
Reverence:尊敬