"I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world” -Socrates

"I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world” -Socrates

I really want to know the meaning of this quote. Please input your ideas/thoughts

[HeySal]

It means that a human is more than a product of society. The human is a creature of the natural state of the planet..

His thinking was in regard to pondering man's ultimate place in and responsibility to society over the self.

[seasoned]

Frankly, in a peaceful and reasonable world, that would be just the ultiimate in freedom. The world was probably closer to that ideal in his lifetime, and today the US, and many other places, are moving away from that.

Steve

[HeySal]

Originally Posted by seasoned

Frankly, in a peaceful and reasonable world, that would be just the ultiimate in freedom. The world was probably closer to that ideal in his lifetime, and today the US, and many other places, are moving away from that.

Steve

Steve - Socrates was forced to drink poison to end his life by his "free" society. His crime was teaching forbidden ways of thinking.

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by HeySal

Steve - Socrates was forced to drink poison to end his life by his "free" society. His crime was teaching forbidden ways of thinking.

I was commenting merely on one possible meaning of his words, not on his life or death.

[myob]

Originally Posted by seasoned

Frankly, in a peaceful and reasonable world, that would be just the ultiimate in freedom. The world was probably closer to that ideal in his lifetime, and today the US, and many other places, are moving away from that.

Steve

For most of Socrates' life, the Greek city-states were at war with each other, including the the 16-year long Peloponnesian Wars. By 403BC "democracy" was achieved, and Socrates was shortly afterwards brought to trial and executed in 399BC by poison for his independent thinking. The world was not peaceful nor reasonable then, perhaps only in myth and in the mind of Plato. The quote "I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world" was atrributed to Socrates in the writings of Plato. Socrates himself never wrote anything that survives. The ideal of reason, freedom, and democracy was borrowed from the Greeks, however, it never was and never will be fully consummated.

[KenThompson]

My take on the quote is his thinking and attitudes were
larger than the norm, transcending geographic boundaries
of his social peers and country.

Edit:

I got curious about this, so did a little digging. Discovered
that this was written by Plutarch who was a priest at
Delphi - back in the day.

If you don't mind this, I did a short copy of the quote with
attribute:

Found in: Plutarch, Plutarch’s Morals, vol. 3 > OF BANISHMENT, OR FLYING ONE’S COUNTRY. > paragraph 26

But Socrates expressed it better, when he said, he was not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world (just as a man calls himself a citizen of Rhodes or Corinth), because he did not enclose himself within the limits of Sunium, Taenarum, or the Ceraunian mountains.

· Behold how yonder azure sky,
· Extending vastly wide and high
· To infinitely distant spaces,
· In her soft arms our earth embraces.†

I've heard of Plutarch, but I had no idea how influential he
was in literature and many other areas. There's so much to
read in this world.

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by myob

For most of Socrates' life, the Greek city-states were at war with each other, including the the 16-year long Peloponnesian Wars. By 403BC "democracy" was achieved, and Socrates was shortly afterwards brought to trial and executed in 399BC by poison for his independent thinking. The world was not peaceful nor reasonable then, perhaps only in myth and in the mind of Plato. The quote "I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world" was atrributed to Socrates in the writings of Plato. Socrates himself never wrote anything that survives. The ideal of reason, freedom, and democracy was borrowed from the Greeks, however, it never was and never will be fully consummated.

There are a LOT of aspects to such freedom. Yeah, war has ALWAYS existed. Even during the civil war in the US, at least if you were white, you could probably travel relatively freely if you did nothing against the sensibilities of the area, and didn't give an opinion.

But you are right. DESPITE what the Bible says, etc... I doubt people ever spoke one language. There were probably a few languages, and families tried to travel some distance away and things started changing, probably due to misunderstanding, poor communication, etc.... In a way, GERMANY was a microcosm of that only a few hundred years ago. Martin Luther was credited, in part, for basically getting everyone to speak HOCH DEUTSCH. Of course, holland and scandinavia still have a language similar to what some in Germany spoke before Martin Luther.

And there are WILDLY different cultures and rumors, etc.... So the perfect world will probably NEVER occur. This place COULD be heaven, but too many people seem set on power, force, and greed to add a bit of hell to the mix.

Steve

[carlwilson]

In my own understanding...
It is about us all...
It doesn't matter where we came from (what nation, country or anywhere in the planet)
We are one -- a human
Lets us respect one another

[whateverpedia]

"Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colored rag is unfurled

The whole wide world, an endless universe
But we keep looking through the eyeglass in reverse
Don't fee the people, but we feed the machnes
Can't realy feel what International means
In different circles we keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles we keep spinning round and round"

Neil Peart from "Territories"

Another way of saying the same thing

[Adam Carn]

From my understanding it means, the whole earth is our home, why divide it into countries?

Thanks,
Adam