“Socrates: So even our walks are dangerous here. But you seem to have avoided the most dangerous thing of all.Bertha: What's that?Socrates: Philosophy. Bertha: Oh, we have philosophers here. Socrates: Where are they?Bertha: In the philosophy department.Socrates: Philosophy is not department. Bertha: Well, we have philosophers.Socrates: Are they dangerous?Bertha: Of course not.Socrates: Then they are not true philosophers.”

“don’t confuse scepticism as an attitude, or a method, with scepticism as a philosophy. Socrates was sceptical in temperament, and his method was to question everything. But he believed in absolute truth; he was no sceptic.”

“We can't avoid reasoning; we can only avoid doing it well.”

“It is extraordinary to think about. We still speak of Socratic or Platonic philosophy, but actually being Plato or Socrates is quite another matter.”

“Bertha kept things interesting, always shaky and a little unstable”

“Man's soul has three powers, and God left him prophets for all three: Jewish moralists for his will, Greek philosophers for his mind, and pagan mythmakers for his heart and imagination and feelings. Of course, the latter two are not infallible.”

“To have no time for philosophy is to be a true philosopher.”