Gorgias
A prominent Sophist known for his skepticism and his elaborate rhetorical style.
Most quoted
"If being is generated, it comes either from being or from non-being; but it cannot come from being, for if it is being, it is not generated; nor from non-being, for nothing comes from nothing."
— from On Non-Existence
"Speech is a powerful lord, which by means of the finest and most invisible body effects the divinest works: it can stop fear and banish grief and create joy and nourish pity."
— from Encomium of Helen
"Speech is a powerful lord, which by means of the finest and most invisible body effects the divinest works: it can stop fear and banish grief and create joy and nurture pity."
— from Encomium of Helen
All quotes by Gorgias (155)
The power of speech is a gift from the gods.
The orator is a master of illusions.
Words are the weapons of the wise.
The art of rhetoric is the art of moving the passions.
The wise man speaks little, but says much.
The power of speech is a force of nature.
The orator is a painter of words.
Words are the keys to the human heart.
The art of rhetoric is the art of making the improbable probable.
The wise man knows when to speak and when to be silent.
Nothing exists; even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and even if something can be known about it, it cannot be communicated to others.
The effect of speech upon the minds of an audience is comparable to the power of drugs over the body.
Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.
I praise the woman whom I have selected as worthy of praise, and having judged with reason, I shall deliver to the ears of the learned a brief discourse worthy of credence.
Speech is a great power, which accomplishes the most divine works by means of the smallest and least visible form.
For a spoken thing, being an image of thought, can both moisten and dry and heat and chill and work other similar effects through the disturbance of the mind.
The power of speech over the disposition of the soul is like the power of drugs over the nature of bodies.
Helen, if she was persuaded by speech, did what was fitting; for she was overcome by logos, which has the power to stop and persuade.
If it was love that seized her, she is not to blame; for love is a tyrant born of necessity.
Forced by violence, she did wrong, but the wrong was not hers.
Contemporaries of Gorgias
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Gorgias (-483–-375).