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And thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself and none of these things trouble her—neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure,—when she takes leave of the body, and has as little as possible to do with it, when she has no bodily sense or desire, but is aspiring after true being?
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“And thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself and none of these things trouble her—neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure,—when she takes leave of the body, and has as little as possible to do with it, when she has no bodily sense or desire, but is aspiring after true being?”

Plato

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Source
Phaedo
Date
4th century BCE
Local voice
Dialogue speaker · Socrates
English wording
Benjamin Jowett — Translator · from Ancient Greek
Meaning

Meaning of “And thought is best when the mind is…”

Socrates argues that philosophical reflection is clearest when bodily sensations do not distract the soul from its inquiry. This belongs to his metaphysical case about knowledge, body and soul on the day of his death; it should not be confused with a modern scientific finding about the brain or with a general prohibition on sensory experience.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Plato, Phaedo, approximately 65c–d; Socrates speaking with Simmias about the philosopher’s pursuit of true being and the limits of bodily perception. Benjamin Jowett English, Project Gutenberg #1658, dramatic text (not the editorial introduction).

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Why the local voice matters

Jowett English; Phaedo; Socrates is the dramatic speaker. Do not label this Plato autobiographical speech.

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Ideas connected with this quotation

DeepMindPhilosophyThinking Quotes About Reasoning, Reflection & JudgmentThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite ReflectionReason
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Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions,
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“Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions,”

David Hume · A Treatise of Human Nature · 1739
Meaning & context

Hume argues that reasoning can inform means and consequences but does not by itself supply the motivating ends that move a person to act.

Source details

A Treatise of Human Nature, Book II, Part III, Section III, “Of the Influencing Motives of the Will,” Project Gutenberg #4705. The frozen catalog retains the opening clause “Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions,” from a longer sentence. It remains Hume’s historical philosophical thesis rather than contemporary empirical psychology.

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The unreasonableness of a thing is no argument against its existence, but rather a condition thereof.
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“The unreasonableness of a thing is no argument against its existence, but rather a condition thereof.”

Friedrich Nietzsche · Human, All-Too-Human · 1909
Meaning & context

The aphorism separates the fact that something exists from the expectation that existence must be rational or well ordered.

Source details

Human, All-Too-Human, Part I, aphorism 515, “From Experience”; Helen Zimmern translation.

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Perhaps he confused cause and effect; the excellent digestion may have been responsible for at least some of the philosophical serenity.
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“Perhaps he confused cause and effect; the excellent digestion may have been responsible for at least some of the philosophical serenity.”

Saki · When William Came · 1914
Voice: Fictional narrator · Narrator
Meaning & context

The narrator humorously reverses a character’s explanation of his calm temperament, using causal inversion to puncture self-satisfied philosophy.

Source details

When William Came, represented by Project Gutenberg #14540 from the 1914 John Lane edition. This is the narrator’s satirical aside about Herr von Kwarl; the digestion comparison is literary humor, not medical or psychological advice.

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the terms good and evil are only applied relatively, so that the same thing may be called both good and bad according to the relations in view,
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“the terms good and evil are only applied relatively, so that the same thing may be called both good and bad according to the relations in view,”

Benedict de Spinoza · On the Improvement of the Understanding · 1677
Meaning & context

Spinoza asks readers to examine evaluative terms in relation to purposes and comparisons instead of assuming that every judgment of good or bad names an absolute property.

Source details

On the Improvement of the Understanding, section 12, Project Gutenberg #1016 in R. H. M. Elwes's public-domain English translation. Spinoza says the terms good and evil are applied relatively while introducing his distinction between ordinary relative goods and the true/highest good sought by the unfinished treatise. It remains translation-mediated seventeenth-century methodological philosophy rather than a claim that all moral distinctions are meaningless.

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And ought not the rational principle, which is wise, and has the care of the whole soul, to rule, and the passionate or spirited principle to be the subject and ally?
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“And ought not the rational principle, which is wise, and has the care of the whole soul, to rule, and the passionate or spirited principle to be the subject and ally?”

Plato · The Republic · 4th century BCE
Voice: Dialogue speaker · Socrates
Meaning & context

Socrates argues that self-government involves a rational faculty attending to the whole person while spirited impulses support its judgment. The passage is a question within his analogy between a well-ordered city and the three parts of the soul. It does not mean that all emotion should be suppressed or that Plato established a modern psychological theory.

Source details

Plato, The Republic, Book IV, approximately 441e–442a; Socrates addressing Glaucon while contrasting the rational, spirited and appetitive parts of the soul. Exact sentence from Benjamin Jowett English, Project Gutenberg #1497, Book IV main dialogue (not introductory editorial matter). The premise belongs to an ancient account of the soul and remains open to philosophical interpretation; not clinical or neuroscientific evidence.

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