Q0001

Socrates

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.
Thinker Socrates
School Socratic School
Source Plato, Apology 38a
Theme Self-examination
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Plato, Apology 38a, within the tradition of Socratic School. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self-examination, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Socrates's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Socrates. (n.d.). The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0001

MLA: Socrates. “The unexamined life is not worth living for….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0001.

Chicago: Socrates. “The unexamined life is not worth living for….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0001.

Same thinker

More from Socrates

  1. What I do not know, I do not claim to know.
  2. It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it.
  3. No one errs willingly.
  4. Virtue does not come from money, but from virtue come money and all other good things for human beings.
  5. One must never do injustice in any way.

All quotations by Socrates

Same theme

More on self-examination

  1. I searched for myself.
  2. Thinking is the habit of examining whatever happens to come to pass or to attract attention.
  3. The Master said: When three people walk together, one of them is sure to be my teacher. I select what is good in them and follow it; what is not good, I correct in myself.
  4. Zengzi said: Each day I examine myself on three counts: In acting on behalf of others, have I been loyal? In dealings with friends, have I been trustworthy? Have I practiced what was passed on to me?
  5. The Master said: When you see the worthy, think of equaling them; when you see the unworthy, examine yourself within.

Browse the self-examination theme