THE MEMORABLE

THOUGHTS OF
SOCRATES.

BY XENOPHON.
 Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I. SOCRATES NOT A CONTEMNER OF THE
GODS OF HIS COUNTRY, NOR AN
INTRODUCER OF NEW ONES.
CHAPTER II. SOCRATES NOT A DEBAUCHER OF
YOUTH.
CHAPTER III. HOW SOCRATES BEHAVED THROUGH
THE WHOLE OF HIS LIFE.
CHAPTER IV. SOCRATES PROVETH THE EXISTENCE
OF A DEITY.
CHAPTER V. THE PRAISE OF TEMPERANCE.
CHAPTER VI. THE DISPUTE OF SOCRATES WITH
ANTIPHON, THE SOPHIST.
CHAPTER VII. IN WHAT MANNER SOCRATES
DISSUADED MEN FROM SELF-CONCEIT
AND OSTENTATION.
BOOK II.
CHAPTER I. A CONFERENCE OF SOCRATES WITH
ARISTIPPUS CONCERNING PLEASURE
AND TEMPERANCE.
CHAPTER II. SOCRATES’ DISCOURSE WITH HIS
ELDEST SON LAMPROCLES
 CONCERNING THE RESPECT DUE TO
PARENTS.
CHAPTER III. SOCRATES RECONCILES CHAEREPHON
AND CHAERECRATES, TWO BROTHERS
WHO WERE FORMERLY AT VARIANCE.
CHAPTER IV. A DISCOURSE OF SOCRATES
CONCERNING FRIENDSHIP.
CHAPTER V. OF THE WORTH AND VALUE OF FRIENDS.
CHAPTER VI. OF THE CHOICE OF FRIENDS.
CHAPTER VII. SOCRATES SHOWETH ARISTARCHUS
HOW TO GET RID OF POVERTY.
CHAPTER VIII. SOCRATES PERSUADES EUTHERUS TO
ABANDON HIS FORMER WAY OF LIVING,
AND TO BETAKE HIMSELF TO SOME
MORE USEFUL AND HONOURABLE
EMPLOYMENT.
CHAPTER IX. IN WHAT MANNER SOCRATES TAUGHT
HIS FRIEND CRITO TO RID HIMSELF OF
SOME INFORMERS, WHO TOOK THE
ADVANTAGE OF HIS EASY TEMPER.
CHAPTER X. SOCRATES ADVISES DIODORUS TO DO
JUSTICE TO THE MERIT OF
HERMOGENES, AND TO ACCEPT OF HIS
SERVICE AND FRIENDSHIP.
BOOK III.
CHAPTER I. OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A GENERAL.
CHAPTER II. THE CHARACTER OF A GOOD PRINCE.
CHAPTER III. ON THE BUSINESS OF A GENERAL OF
HORSE.
CHAPTER IV. A DISCOURSE OF SOCRATES WITH
NICOMACHIDES, IN WHICH HE
SHOWETH THAT A MAN SKILFUL IN HIS
OWN PROPER BUSINESS, AND WHO
MANAGES HIS AFFAIRS WITH
PRUDENCE AND SAGACITY, MAY MAKE,
WHEN OCCASION OFFERS, A GOOD
GENERAL.
CHAPTER V. A CONVERSATION BETWEEN SOCRATES
AND PERICLES CONCERNING THE THEN
PRESENT STATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF
ATHENS, IN WHICH SOCRATES LAYS
DOWN A METHOD BY WHICH THE
ATHENIANS MAY RECOVER THEIR
ANCIENT LUSTRE AND REPUTATION.
CHAPTER VI. SOCRATES DISSUADES GLAUCON, A
VERY FORWARD YOUTH, FROM TAKING
UPON HIM THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH HE WAS UNFIT.
CHAPTER VII. SOCRATES PERSUADETH CHARMIDAS,
A PERSON OF MERIT AND GREAT
CAPACITY, BUT VERY MODEST AND
DIFFIDENT OF HIMSELF, TO
UNDERTAKE THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE REPUBLIC.
CHAPTER VIII. SOCRATES’ DISPUTE WITH
ARISTIPPUS CONCERNING THE GOOD
AND BEAUTIFUL.
 CHAPTER IX. SOCRATES RETURNS SUITABLE
ANSWERS TO A VARIETY OF
QUESTIONS PROPOSED TO HIM.
CHAPTER X. SOCRATES, IN CONVERSATION WITH
SEVERAL ARTIFICERS, A PAINTER, A
STATUARY, AND AN ARMOURER,
SHOWETH HIS SKILL AND GOOD TASTE
IN THE FINER ARTS.
CHAPTER XI. DISCOURSE OF SOCRATES WITH
THEODOTA, AN ATHENIAN LADY, OF
NO GOOD CHARACTER; WHEREIN HE
ENDEAVOURETH, IN THE MOST ARTFUL
AND ENGAGING MANNER, TO WIN HER
OVER FROM THE CRIMINAL PLEASURES
TO WHICH SHE WAS ADDICTED UNTO
THE SUBLIMER AND MORE INNOCENT
DELIGHTS OF PHILOSOPHY AND
VIRTUE.
CHAPTER XII. OF THE NECESSITY OF EXERCISE TO
HEALTH AND STRENGTH OF BODY.
CHAPTER XIII. SEVERAL APOPHTHEGMS OF
SOCRATES.
CHAPTER XIV. SOCRATES PROPOSETH SOME
REGULATIONS FOR THE BETTER
MANAGEMENT OF THEIR PUBLIC
FEASTS.
BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I. THAT PERSONS OF GOOD NATURAL
PARTS, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO HAVE
 PLENTIFUL FORTUNES, OUGHT NOT TO
THINK THEMSELVES ABOVE
INSTRUCTION. ON THE CONTRARY, THE
ONE OUGHT, BY THE AID OF LEARNING,
TO IMPROVE THEIR GENIUS; THE
OTHER, BY THE ACQUISITION OF
KNOWLEDGE, TO RENDER
THEMSELVES VALUABLE.
CHAPTER II. CONFERENCE BETWEEN SOCRATES AND
EUTHYDEMUS, IN WHICH HE
CONVINCES THAT YOUNG MAN, WHO
HAD A GREAT OPINION OF HIMSELF,
THAT HE KNEW NOTHING.
CHAPTER III. PROOFS OF A KIND SUPERINTENDING
PROVIDENCE.—WHAT RETURNS OF
GRATITUDE AND DUTY MEN OUGHT TO
MAKE TO GOD FOR HIS FAVOURS.—AN
HONEST AND GOOD LIFE THE BEST
SONG OF THANKSGIVING OR THE MOST
ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE TO THE DEITY.
CHAPTER IV. INSTANCES OF THE INVIOLABLE
INTEGRITY OF SOCRATES.—HIS
CONVERSATION WITH HIPPIAS
CONCERNING JUSTICE.
CHAPTER V. OF THE MISCHIEFS OF INTEMPERANCE,
AND THE ADVANTAGES OF SOBRIETY.
CHAPTER VI. SOCRATES’ FRIENDS ATTAIN, BY
FREQUENTING HIS CONVERSATION, AN
EXCELLENT WAY OF REASONING.—
THE METHOD HE OBSERVED IN
 ARGUING SHOWN IN SEVERAL
INSTANCES.—OF THE DIFFERENT
SORTS OF GOVERNMENT.—HOW
SOCRATES DEFENDED HIS OPINIONS.
CHAPTER VII. METHOD TO BE OBSERVED IN
STUDY.—ARTS AND SCIENCES NO
FURTHER USEFUL, THAN THEY
CONTRIBUTE TO RENDER MEN WISER,
BETTER, OR HAPPIER.—VAIN AND
UNPROFITABLE KNOWLEDGE TO BE
REJECTED.
CHAPTER VIII. BEHAVIOUR OF SOCRATES FROM THE
TIME OF HIS CONDEMNATION TO HIS
DEATH.—HIS CHARACTER SUMMED UP
IN A FEW WORDS.
 INTRODUCTION.
This translation of Xenophon’s “Memorabilia of Socrates” was
first published in 1712, and is here printed from the revised edition
of 1722. Its author was Edward Bysshe, who had produced in 1702
“The Art of English Poetry,” a well-known work that was near its
fifth edition when its author published his translation of the
“Memorabilia.” This was a translation that remained in good
repute. There was another edition of it in 1758. Bysshe translated
the title of the book into “The Memorable Things of Socrates.” I
have changed “Things” into “Thoughts,” for whether they be
sayings or doings, the words and deeds of a wise man are alike
expressions of his thought.
Xenophon is said to have been, when young, a pupil of Socrates.
Two authorities have recorded that in the flight from the battle of
Delium in the year B.C. 424, when Xenophon fell from his horse,
Socrates picked him up and carried him on his back for a
considerable distance. The time of Xenophon’s death is not known,
but he was alive sixty-seven years after the battle of Delium.
When Cyrus the Younger was preparing war against his brother
Artaxerxes Mnemon, King of Persia, Xenophon went with him.
After the death of Cyrus on the plains of Cunaxa, the barbarian
auxiliaries fled, and the Greeks were left to return as they could
from the far region between the Tigris and Euphrates. Xenophon
had to take part in the conduct of the retreat, and tells the story of it
in his “Anabasis,” a history of the expedition of the younger Cyrus
and of the retreat of the Greeks. His return into Greece was in the
year of the death of Socrates, B.C. 399, but his association was now
with the Spartans, with whom he fought, B.C. 394, at Coroneia.
Afterwards he settled, and lived for about twenty years, at Scillus
in Eleia with his wife and children. At Scillus he wrote probably
his “Anabasis” and some other of his books. At last he was driven
out by the Eleans. In the battle of Mantineia the Spartans and
Athenians fought as allies, and Xenophon’s two sons were in the
battle; he had sent them to Athens as fellow-combatants from
Sparta. His banishment from Athens was repealed by change of
times, but it does not appear that he returned to Athens. He is said
to have lived, and perhaps died, at Corinth, after he had been
driven from his home at Scillus.
Xenophon was a philosophic man of action. He could make his
value felt in a council of war, take part in battle—one of his books
is on the duties of a commander of cavalry—and show himself
good sportsman in the hunting-field. He wrote a book upon the
horse; a treatise also upon dogs and hunting. He believed in God,
thought earnestly about social and political duties, and preferred
Spartan institutions to those of Athens. He wrote a life of his friend
Agesilaus II., King of Sparta. He found exercise for his energetic
mind in writing many books. In writing he was clear and to the
point; his practical mind made his work interesting. His
“Anabasis” is a true story as delightful as a fiction; his
“Cyropædia” is a fiction full of truths. He wrote “Hellenica,” that
carried on the history of Greece from the point at which
Thucydides closed his history until the battle of Mantineia. He
wrote a dialogue between Hiero and Simonides upon the position
of a king, and dealt with the administration of the little realm of a
man’s household in his “Œconomicus,” a dialogue between
Socrates and Critobulus, which includes the praise of agriculture.
He wrote also, like Plato, a symposium, in which philosophers
over their wine reason of love and friendship, and he paints the
character of Socrates.
But his best memorial of his old guide, philosopher, and friend is
this work, in which Xenophon brought together in simple and
direct form the views of life that had been made clear to himself by
the teaching of Socrates. Xenophon is throughout opposing a plain
tale to the false accusations against Socrates. He does not idealise,
but he feels strongly, and he shows clearly the worth of the
wisdom that touches at every point the actual conduct of the lives
of men.
H. M.
 BOOK I.

CHAPTER I. SOCRATES NOT A CONTEMNER

OF THE GODS OF HIS COUNTRY, NOR AN
INTRODUCER OF NEW ONES.
I have often wondered by what show of argument the accusers of
Socrates could persuade the Athenians he had forfeited his life to
the State. For though the crimes laid unto his charge were indeed
great—“That he did not acknowledge the gods of the Republic;
that he introduced new ones”—and, farther, “had debauched the
youth;” yet none of these could, in the least, be proved against him.
For, as to the first, “That he did not worship the deities which the
Republic adored,” how could this be made out against him, since,
instead of paying no homage to the gods of his country, he was
frequently seen to assist in sacrificing to them, both in his own
family and in the public temples?—perpetually worshipping them
in the most public, solemn, and religious manner.
What, in my opinion, gave his accusers a specious pretext for
alleging against him that he introduced new deities was this—that
he had frequently declared in public he had received counsel from
a divine voice, which he called his Demon. But this was no proof at
all of the matter. All that Socrates advanced about his demon was
no more than what is daily advanced by those who believe in and
practise divination; and if Socrates, because he said he received
intelligence from his genius, must be accused of introducing new
divinities, so also must they; for is it not certain that those who
believe in divination, and practise that belief, do observe the flight
of birds, consult the entrails of victims, and remark even
unexpected words and accidental occurrences? But they do not,
therefore, believe that either the birds whose flight they observe or
the persons they meet accidentally know either their good or ill
fortune—neither did Socrates—they only believe that the gods
make use of these things to presage the future; and such, too, was
the belief of Socrates. The vulgar, indeed, imagine it to be the very
birds and things which present themselves to them that excite them
to what is good for them, or make them avoid what may hurt them;
but, as for Socrates, he freely owned that a demon was his monitor;
and he frequently told his friends beforehand what they should do,
or not do, according to the instructions he had received from his
demon; and they who believed him, and followed his advice,
always found advantage by it; as, on the contrary, they who
neglected his admonitions, never failed to repent their incredulity.
Now, it cannot be denied but that he ought to have taken care not
to pass with his friends either for a liar or a visionary; and yet how
could he avoid incurring that censure if the events had not justified
the truth of the things he pretended were revealed to him? It is,
therefore, manifest that he would not have spoken of things to
come if he had not believed he said true; but how could he believe
he said true, unless he believed that the gods, who alone ought to
be trusted for the knowledge of things to come, gave him notice of
them? and, if he believed they did so, how can it be said that he
acknowledged no gods?
He likewise advised his friends to do, in the best manner they
could, the things that of necessity they were to do; but, as to those
whose events were doubtful, he sent them to the oracles to know
whether they should engage in them or not. And he thought that
they who design to govern with success their families or whole
cities had great need of receiving instructions by the help of
divinations; for though he indeed held that every man may make
choice of the condition of life in which he desires to live, and that,
by his industry, he may render himself excellent in it, whether he
apply himself to architecture or to agriculture, whether he throw
himself into politics or economy, whether he engage himself in the
public revenues or in the army, yet that in all these things the gods
have reserved to themselves the most important events, into which
men of themselves can in no wise penetrate. Thus he who makes a
fine plantation of trees, knows not who shall gather the fruit; he
who builds a house cannot tell who shall inhabit it; a general is not
certain that he shall be successful in his command, nor a Minister
of State in his ministry; he who marries a beautiful woman in
hopes of being happy with her knows not but that even she herself
may be the cause of all his uneasinesses; and he who enters into a
grand alliance is uncertain whether they with whom he allies
himself will not at length be the cause of his ruin. This made him
frequently say that it is a great folly to imagine there is not a
Divine Providence that presides over these things, and that they
can in the least depend on human prudence. He likewise held it to
be a weakness to importune the gods with questions which we may
resolve ourselves; as if we should ask them whether it be better to
take a coachman who knows how to drive than one who knows
nothing of the matter? whether it be more eligible to take an
experienced pilot than one that is ignorant? In a word, he counted
it a kind of impiety to consult the oracles concerning what might
be numbered or weighed, because we ought to learn the things
which the gods have been pleased to capacitate us to know; but
that we ought to have recourse to the oracles to be instructed in
those that surpass our knowledge, because the gods are wont to
discover them to such men as have rendered them propitious to
themselves.
Socrates stayed seldom at home. In the morning he went to the
places appointed for walking and public exercises. He never failed
to be at the hall, or courts of justice, at the usual hour of
assembling there, and the rest of the day he was at the places where
the greatest companies generally met. There it was that he
discoursed for the most part, and whoever would hear him easily
might; and yet no man ever observed the least impiety either in his
actions or his words. Nor did he amuse himself to reason of the
secrets of nature, or to search into the manner of the creation of
what the sophists call the world, nor to dive into the cause of the
motions of the celestial bodies. On the contrary, he exposed the
folly of such as give themselves up to these contemplations; and he
asked whether it was, after having acquired a perfect knowledge of
human things, that they undertook to search into the divine, or if
they thought themselves very wise in neglecting what concerned
them to employ themselves in things above them? He was
astonished likewise that they did not see it was impossible for men
to comprehend anything of all those wonders, seeing they who
have the reputation of being most knowing in them are of quite
different opinions, and can agree no better than so many fools and
madmen; for as some of these are not afraid of the most dangerous
and frightful accidents, while others are in dread of what is not to
be feared, so, too, among those philosophers, some are of opinion
that there is no action but what may be done in public, nor word
that may not freely be spoken before the whole world, while others,
on the contrary, believe that we ought to avoid the conversation of
men and keep in a perpetual solitude. Some have despised the
temples and the altars, and have taught not to honour the gods,
while others have been so superstitious as to worship wood, stones,
and irrational creatures. And as to the knowledge of natural things,
some have confessed but one only being; others have admitted an
infinite number: some have believed that all things are in a
perpetual motion; others that nothing moves: some have held the
world to be full of continual generations and corruptions; others
maintain that nothing is engendered or destroyed. He said besides
that he should be glad to know of those persons whether they were
in hopes one day to put in practice what they learned, as men who
know an art may practise it when they please either for their own
advantage or for the service of their friends; or whether they did
imagine that, after they found out the causes of all things that
happen, they should be able to cause winds and rains, and to
dispose the times and seasons as they had occasion for them; or
whether they contented themselves with the bare knowledge
without expecting any farther advantage.
This was what he said of those who delight in such studies. As for
his part, he meditated chiefly on what is useful and proper for man,
and took delight to argue of piety and impiety, of honesty and
dishonesty, of justice and injustice, of wisdom and folly, of
courage and cowardice, of the State, and of the qualifications of a
Minister of State, of the Government, and of those who are fit to
govern; in short, he enlarged on the like subjects, which it becomes
men of condition to know, and of which none but slaves should be
ignorant.
It is not strange, perhaps, that the judges of Socrates mistook his
opinion in things concerning which he did not explain himself; but
I am surprised that they did not reflect on what he had said and
done in the face of the whole world; for when he was one of the
Senate, and had taken the usual oath exactly to observe the laws,
being in his turn vested with the dignity of Epistate, he bravely
withstood the populace, who, against all manner of reason,
demanded that the nine captains, two of whom were Erasinides and
Thrasilus, should be put to death, he would never give consent to
this injustice, and was not daunted at the rage of the people, nor at
the menaces of the men in power, choosing rather not to violate the
oath he had taken than to yield to the violence of the multitude, and
shelter himself from the vengeance of those who threatened him.
To this purpose he said that the gods watch over men more
attentively than the vulgar imagine; for they believe there are some
things which the gods observe and others which they pass by
unregarded; but he held that the gods observe all our actions and
all our words, that they penetrate even into our most secret
thoughts, that they are present at all our deliberations, and that they
inspire us in all our affairs.
It is astonishing, therefore, to consider how the Athenians could
suffer themselves to be persuaded that Socrates entertained any
unworthy thoughts of the Deity; he who never let slip one single
word against the respect due to the gods, nor was ever guilty of any
action that savoured in the least of impiety; but who, on the
contrary, has done and said things that could not proceed but from
a mind truly pious, and that are sufficient to gain a man an eternal
reputation of piety and virtue.

CHAPTER II. SOCRATES NOT A DEBAUCHER

OF YOUTH.
What surprises me yet more is, that some would believe that
Socrates was a debaucher of young men! Socrates the most sober
and most chaste of all men, who cheerfully supported both cold
and heat; whom no inconvenience, no hardships, no labours could
startle, and who had learned to wish for so little, that though he had
scarce anything, he had always enough. Then how could he teach
impiety, injustice, gluttony, impurity, and luxury? And so far was
he from doing so, that he reclaimed many persons from those vices,
inspiring them with the love of virtue, and putting them in hopes of
coming to preferment in the world, provided they would take a
little care of themselves. Yet he never promised any man to teach
him to be virtuous; but as he made a public profession of virtue, he
created in the minds of those who frequented him the hopes of
becoming virtuous by his example.
He neglected not his own body, and praised not those that
neglected theirs. In like manner, he blamed the custom of some
who eat too much, and afterwards use violent exercises; but he
approved of eating till nature be satisfied, and of a moderate
exercise after it, believing that method to be an advantage to health,
and proper to unbend and divert the mind. In his clothes he was
neither nice nor costly; and what I say of his clothes ought likewise
to be understood of his whole way of living. Never any of his
friends became covetous in his conversation, and he reclaimed
them from that sordid disposition, as well as from all others; for he
would accept of no gratuity from any who desired to confer with
him, and said that was the way to discover a noble and generous
heart, and that they who take rewards betray a meanness of soul,
and sell their own persons, because they impose on themselves a
necessity of instructing those from whom they receive a salary. He
wondered, likewise, why a man, who promises to teach virtue,
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