Q0003
“It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it.” — Socrates (Plato, Gorgias 469b–c)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Plato, Gorgias 469b–c. Theme: justice.
English
It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Plato, Gorgias 469b–c and files it under Socratic School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Socrates
Socrates (c. 470/469–399 BCE) was an Athenian citizen who wrote nothing and yet redirected Greek philosophy from cosmology toward ethics and the care of the soul.
Interpretation
Socrates defends this to Callicles in the Gorgias, and it is the most counter-intuitive of his claims. His argument is that injustice damages the soul of the one who commits it, and the soul is more important than the body or property, so the doer is worse off than the victim. He also argues it is worse to escape punishment than to suffer it, on the grounds that punishment treats the damage. The position follows from taking seriously that character is what a person most fundamentally has.
Why it matters
It is testable in a specific way: consider what repeated dishonesty does to the person practising it, independent of whether they are caught.
Concepts in this quote
- Justice
- Justice concerns fairness, rights, desert, and the arrangement of institutions that claim to treat people as equals.
- Morality
- Morality in philosophy concerns right and wrong, obligation, and the standards by which we judge persons and acts.
- Courage
- Courage is the virtue of facing fear without abandoning judgment—central to ethics from Aristotle to modern existential resolve.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Socrates. (n.d.). It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0003
MLA: Socrates. “It is worse to do injustice than to….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0003.
Chicago: Socrates. “It is worse to do injustice than to….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0003.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “It is worse to do injustice than to…”?
The passage is attributed to Socrates, Plato, Gorgias 469b–c. The archive attributes this English wording to Plato, Gorgias 469b–c and files it under Socratic School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Socrates mean by justice?
Distributive, retributive, and restorative justice name different problems. Political philosophy asks what a just society owes its members and outsiders. This passage enters that discussion through justice, morality, courage.