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He could very likely have appealed for leniency. At least he could have saved his life by agreeing to leave Athens. But had he done this he would not have been Socrates. He valued his conscience--and the truth-- higher than life.

Jostein Gaarder

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Jostein Gaarder
Age: 72
Born: 1952
Born: August 8
Author
Novelist
Philosopher
Screenwriter
Teacher
Writer
Oslo
Norway
Would
Likely
Life
Saved
Conscience
Leniency
Higher
Agreeing
Leave
Appealed
Least
Athens
Truth
Socrates
Done
Valued

More quotes by Jostein Gaarder

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For nature is good, an man is 'by nature' good it is civilization which ruins him
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Let me put it more precisely: The ability to give birth is a natural characteristic. In the same way, everybody can grasp philosophical truths if they just use their innate reason.
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If an overgrown child draws something on a piece of paper, you can't ask the paper what the drawing is supposed to represent.
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When you realize there is something you don't understand, then you're generally on the right path to understanding all kinds of things.
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A joker is a little fool who is different from everyone else. He's not a club, diamond, heart, or spade. He's not an eight or a nine, a king or a jack. He is an outsider. He is placed in the same pack as the other cards, but he doesn't belong there. Therefore, he can be removed without anybody missing him.
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Where both reason and experience fall short, there occurs a vacuum that can be filled by faith.
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Philosophy is the opposite of fairy tales
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The most subversive people are those who ask questions.
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Dear Hilde, if the human brain was simple enough for us to understand, we would still be so stupid that we couldn't understand it. Love, Dad.
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That fact that Athens could condemn its noblest citizen to death did more than make a profound impression on him. It was to shape the course of his entire philosophic endeavor.
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Ladies and Gentlemen...we are floating in Space!
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The truth is that I feel totally helpless, or totally inconsolable, to be more honest. I’m not trying to hide it, but it’s something you’re not to worry about.
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Acting responsibly is not a matter of strengthening our reason but of deepening our feelings for the welfare of others.
Jostein Gaarder
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A state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm.
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But understanding will always require some effort. You probably wouldn't admire a friend who was good at everything if it cost her no effort.
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When we look up at the sky, we are trying to find the way to ourselves.
Jostein Gaarder
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As a Roman philosopher, Cicero, said of him a few hundred years later, Socrates 'called philosophy down from the sky and established her in the towns and introduced her into homes and forced her to investigate life, ethics, good and evil.
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A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was one of these rare people. He knew that he knew nothing about life and about the world. And now comes the important part: it troubled him that he knew so little.
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According to Kierkegaard, rather than searching for the Truth with a capital T, it is more important to find the kind of truths that are meaningful to the individual's life. It is important to find `the truth for me`.
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All beauty that surrounds us must one day perish.
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