Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Humans are described as prisoners who must not escape life prematurely but wait for divine release.
In plain terms
Do not commit suicide; wait for God to call you.
What can you take from it?
Life is a duty to endure until a higher power releases you.

Where it applies

  • contemplating suicide
  • religious reflection
  • moral dilemma

Putting it to work

  • ethical discussion on life
  • religious counseling

Questions to consider

  • Do we own our lives or do they belong to something higher?

Another view

It restricts personal agency over one's own body and choices.

More from Plato

  1. The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows.

    Permalink to quote #13
  2. Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?

    Permalink to quote #15
  3. No evil can happen to a good man, neither in life nor after death.

    Permalink to quote #12

Related quotes

  1. Marital intercourse is certainly holy, lawful and praiseworthy in itself and profitable to society, yet in certain circumstances it can prove dangerous, as whe…

    Francis de SalesFrancis de Sales quote #7
  2. The other part of the true religion is our duty to man. We must love our neighbour as our selves, we must be charitable to all men for charity is the greatest …

    Isaac NewtonIsaac Newton quote #33
  3. That state is a state of Slavery in which a man does what he likes to do in his spare time and in his working time that which is required of him. This state ca…

    Eric GillEric Gill quote #1