Q0223

“This very practice of philosophers is a release and separation of soul…” — Plato (Phaedo 67e)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Phaedo 67e. Theme: death.

English

This very practice of philosophers is a release and separation of soul from body.
Thinker Plato
School Platonism
Source Phaedo 67e
Theme Death
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Phaedo 67e and files it under Platonism. 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 Plato

Plato (c. 428/427–348/347 BCE) was an Athenian of high birth, a devoted associate of Socrates, and the founder of the Academy.

How to read this passage

Some argue that death is nothing to us; others that mortality intensifies value; still others that grief and remembrance are ethical tasks. The theme sits between metaphysics and consolation. This passage enters that discussion through death.

Concepts in this quote

Death
Philosophy quotes about death confront mortality, fear, legacy, and what a finite life can mean.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Plato. (n.d.). This very practice of philosophers is a release and separation of soul from body. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0223

MLA: Plato. “This very practice of philosophers is a release….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0223.

Chicago: Plato. “This very practice of philosophers is a release….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0223.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “This very practice of philosophers is a release…”?

The passage is attributed to Plato, Phaedo 67e. The archive attributes this English wording to Phaedo 67e and files it under Platonism. 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 Plato mean by death?

Some argue that death is nothing to us; others that mortality intensifies value; still others that grief and remembrance are ethical tasks. The theme sits between metaphysics and consolation. This passage enters that discussion through death.

Same thinker

More from Plato

  1. Justice is doing one's own work and not meddling in others'.
  2. Love is the desire for the perpetual possession of the good.
  3. Let us not become haters of argument — that is a great danger to the soul.
  4. Extreme freedom seems to change into nothing but extreme slavery.
  5. Picture human beings as if living in an underground, cave-like dwelling.

All quotations by Plato

Same theme

More on death

  1. It is through wonder that people both now begin and first began to philosophize.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. What is opposed brings together; from what differs comes the finest harmony.
  4. Death is nothing to us: for what has been dissolved has no sensation, and what has no sensation is nothing to us.
  5. Pleasure is the beginning and end of the happy life — not the pleasures of profligates, but freedom from pain in the body and from disturbance in the soul.

Browse the death theme