Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeBass
"The quote is commonly attributed to Socrates, but apparently there is
no conclusive evidence that he actually said it. The Library of
Congress notes that this quote is "attributed to Socrates by Plato"...
The quote may have come from Plato's Republic Book 4, where Socrates
is quoted saying the following regarding things that he thinks have
been neglected: "I mean such things as these: ? when the young are to
be silent before their elders; how they are to show respect to them by
standing and making them sit; what honour is due to parents; what
garments or shoes are to be worn; the mode of dressing the hair;
deportment and manners in general. You would agree with me? ? Yes."
The Greek philosopher Plato studied under Socrates. Plato complained
about the youth of the day, also. "What is happening to our young
people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They
ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions.
Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"
I am just going by this
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Plato's Socratic dialogues are works of fiction. It's intellectually misleading when people attribute quotes from the Republic or the other works as being the actual spoken words of the historical figures contained therein (I'm not saying that about you, just whoever it was that originally created that quote!) Socrates never created literature, and we have no actual quotations of his. In fact, we don't really even know much of anything about him outside of the works of Plato and maybe Xenophon. Besides that, that quote is still nothing contained inside Plato's works, even if it is slightly contextually similar in a few cases.
It's not really important, but I figure if Plato valued the truth above
almost anything else, it's fair to point out an inaccuracy in a Socrates quote.
They seem to be some of the most common when quoting Plato's works and attributing them to others.