The 13 best phrases of Gorgias de Leontinos
Gorgias de Leontinos (485 - 380 BC) was a renowned Sophist philosopher of Ancient Greece. He was a student of another outstanding thinker, Empédocles, from whom he gathered many knowledge and developed his theories.
Gorgias lived more than 105 years and wandered through the cities being a teacher of young aristocrats . Plato himself wrote a work on the thought of Gorgias de Leontinos, entitled Gorgias or On Rhetoric, in which he defines Gorgias' oratory as weak and submissive before the counterarguments of Socrates.
- Related article: "The 15 most important and famous Greek philosophers"
Famous quotes from Gorgias de Leontinos
His fundamental position in philosophy is that of "nothing exists", that is, he arrived at a series of logical reasonings that led him to a radical skepticism about his own existence.
His work includes several treatises on rhetoric and philosophy manuals that were widely acclaimed in his time. In today's article we are going to pay tribute to this Greek philosopher remembering the best phrases of Gorgias .
1. The power of the word in relation to the affairs of the soul is in the same relation of the power of the medicines in relation to the affairs of the body.
Parallelism that emphasizes the benefits of oral reflection to calm the doubts of our mind.
2. Victories over enemies deserve hymns, those of brothers and friends and funeral songs.
We should not compete against those who appreciate us.
3. Being is dark without appearance; appearance is inconsistent without being.
Reflection of Gorgias of essentialist cut.
4. My life is a garland to which we are going to adjust the last rose [death].
Sad phrase about the last breath of each individual.
5. The seriousness of an opponent must be disarmed with laughter and laughter with seriousness.
Offering the reverse side of enemy behavior is the solution.
6. Not the beauty, but the good reputation of the woman should be known by many.
What is admirable about a woman is not her genetics, but her decisions and ethical value.
7. Thought is that thing that with a small body knows how to achieve divine things.
Cognition, arising from a brain of just a few kilos, is capable of building buildings and cathedrals.
8. Speakers are similar to frogs: they croak in water; them on the bench of the court.
Metaphor about the great masters of rhetoric.
9. And if the persuasive speech deceived his soul, it is not difficult to defend it and absolve it from its responsibility, thus: the speech is a great power, that by the smallest and most secret body performs the most divine works; because it can stop the fear and mitigate the pain and produce joy and make mercy abound.
Great reflection that synthesizes both the background of their philosophical beliefs and the cunning and skill of their writing.
10. Nothing is; if something were, it could not be understood; and if it could be understood, you could not communicate to others.
In this sentence, Gorgias summarizes his position on the non-existence of matter.
11. The man who is wrong shows more justice than the one who does not.
Erring can be a way of being human.
12. Men who neglect philosophy when they are occupied with banal matters are like the Suitors (in The Odyssey), who wanted Penelope but slept with their maids.
According to this phrase of Gorgias, the righteous man is one who has respect for his aspirations.
13. I answer you, Socrates, that the art of rhetoric is the ability to persuade in the courts of justice and in other assemblies, and on the just and the unjust.
Argumentation with a luxury guest: the philosopher Socrates.
