Plato on being afraid of the light

February 19, 2026 Mike Zonta Leave a comment

Roman copy of a portrait bust c. 370 BC

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

― Plato

Plato (c. 428-347 B.C.) was an Athenian philosopher and student of Socrates who is considered a founder of Western philosophy. His influential writings on politics, philosophy, and mathematics laid the groundwork for Euclid’s mathematical approach. Plato’s philosophical teachings are presented in his dialogues, which combine drama, dialectic, and doctrine. His characters, often Socrates, debate questions of ethics, knowledge, metaphysics, and politics.

The Symposium is a Socratic dialogue by Plato, dated c. 385 – 370 BC. It depicts a friendly contest of extemporaneous speeches given by a group of notable Athenian men attending a banquet. The men include the philosopher Socrates, the general and statesman Alcibiades, and the comic playwright Aristophanes. Wikipedia

Author: Plato

Characters: Alcibiades, Phaedrus, Socrates, Aristodemus · See more

Date: c. 385 BC

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Quotes

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“When thought races ahead of Being, a civilization is racing towards destruction.”
— Jacob Needleman in his new book What is God?

“A great man knows he is not God, and the greater he is the better he knows it.”
— G.K. Chesterton

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only at night.”
— Edgar Allan Poe

“Give thanks to unknown blessings already on their way.”
— Native American proverb at cafe in San Francisco

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
–e.e. cummings

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Bathtub Bulletin

Plato on being afraid of the light

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

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Consciousness, sexuality, androgyny, futurism, space, the arts, science, astrology, democracy, humor, books, movies and more