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But already it is time to depart, for me to die, for you to go on living; which of us… — Socrates

Courtroom speech · Speech · Philosophical literature

But already it is time to depart, for me to die, for you to go on living; which of us takes the better course, is not known to anyone except God.

In the original Greek

ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἤδη ὥρα ἀπιέναι, ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀποθανουμένῳ, ὑμῖν δὲ βιωσομένοις: ὁπότεροι δὲ ἡμῶν ἔρχονται ἐπὶ ἄμεινον πρᾶγμα, ἄδηλον παντὶ πλὴν ἢ τῷ θεῷ.

Socrates
Quoted in Apology, by Plato · 399 BC
★ 2.4
Provenance
Current citation
Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.
Original citation
Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

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