Q0181

Protagoras

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Of all things the measure is man.
Thinker Protagoras
School Sophists
Source DK 80B1 (via Plato, Theaetetus)
Theme Philosophy
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with DK 80B1 (via Plato, Theaetetus), within the tradition of Sophists. 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 philosophy, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Protagoras'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: Protagoras. (n.d.). Of all things the measure is man. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0181

MLA: Protagoras. “Of all things the measure is man..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0181.

Chicago: Protagoras. “Of all things the measure is man..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0181.

Same theme

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