Protagoras
A leading Sophist, famous for the dictum 'Man is the measure of all things'.
Most quoted
"Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not, nor of what sort they may be. For many are the obstacles that prevent knowledge, both the obscurity of the question and the shortness of human life."
— from On the Gods, -440
"Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life."
— from On the Gods
"About the gods I am unable to discover whether they exist or not, or what they are like in form; for there are many hindrances to knowledge: the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of human life."
— from On the Gods
All quotes by Protagoras (151)
Each individual creates their own reality.
The goal of rhetoric is to win the argument.
There is no absolute good or evil.
The wise man is the one who can make the city better.
The human experience is the only source of truth.
The value of a thing is determined by its utility to man.
The art of persuasion is the most important art.
The individual is the center of the universe.
The wise man is the one who can teach virtue.
All things are in flux.
Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not.
Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be, because of the obscurity of the subjects and the brevity of human life.
There are two sides to every question, exactly opposite to each other.
Art without practice is nothing.
The teaching of virtue is the first and best of all human possessions.
I am a sophist, a teacher of wisdom and virtue.
Persuasion is the art of getting what you want without force.
Knowledge is the food of the soul.
No one is wise by nature; wisdom comes through learning.
The just and the unjust exist by law, not by nature.
Contemporaries of Protagoras
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Protagoras (-490–-420).