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Socrates had no system to teach. Throughout, his philosophy was a spiritual exercise, an invitation to a new way of life, active reflection, and living consciousness.

— Pierre Hadot La Philosophie comme manière de vivre (2001)

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More quotes by Pierre Hadot

Ancient philosophy proposed to mankind an art of living. By contrast, modern philosophy appears above all as the construction of a technical jargon reserved for specialists.

La Philosophie comme manière de vivre (2001)

To know oneself means, among other things, to know oneself qua non-sage: that is, not as a sophos, but as a philo-sophos, someone on the way toward wisdom.

La Philosophie comme manière de vivre (2001)

Here we come upon one of the most profound reasons for Socratic irony: direct language is not adequate for communicating the experience of existing, the authentic consciousness of being, the seriousness of life as we live it, or the solitude of decision making.

La Philosophie comme manière de vivre (2001)

It is precisely because the Epicurean considered existence to be the result of pure chance that he greeted each moment with immense gratitude, like a kind of divine miracle.

La Philosophie comme manière de vivre (2001)

Socrates splits himself into two, so that there are two Socrates: the Socrates who knows in advance how the discussion is going to end, and the Socrates who travels the entire dialectical path along with his interlocutor.

La Philosophie comme manière de vivre (2001)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Pierre Hadot (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.