By means of beauty all beautiful things become beautiful. For this appears to me the safest answer to give both to myself and others; and adhering to this, I think that I shall never fall, but that it is a safe answer both for me and any one else to give - that by means of beauty beautiful things become beautiful.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author argues that beauty is the fundamental cause of beautiful things being beautiful. He considers this the safest and most reliable explanation.
- In plain terms
- He claims beauty itself makes things beautiful and believes this is the safest answer.
- What can you take from it?
- Seek fundamental causes rather than surface explanations.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a thing what it is?
- Is beauty objective or subjective?
Another view
Beauty may be subjective or relational rather than an independent cause.
More from Socrates
False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.
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