Plato Geometry Quotes & Sayings

The science [geometry] is pursued for the sake of the knowledge of what eternally exists, and not of what comes for a moment into existence, and then perishes. — Plato

Geometry draws the soul towards truth. — Plato

The knowledge of which geometry aims is the knowledge of the eternal. — Plato

At the Egyptian city of Naucratis there was a famous old god whose name was Theuth; the bird which is called the Ibis was sacred to him, and he was the inventor of many arts, such as arithmetic and calculation and geometry and astronomy and draughts and dice, but his great discovery was the use of letters. — Plato

Let no one destitute of Geometry enter my doors. — Plato

Experience proves that anyone who has studied geometry is infinitely quicker to grasp difficult subjects than one who has not. — Plato

[Not enough is known about solid geometry] and for two reasons: in the first place, no government places value on it; this leads to a lack of energy in the pursuit of it, and it is difficult. In the second place, students cannot learn it unless they have a teacher. But then a teacher can hardly be found ... — Plato

They asked for Plato's assistance. He told them: "You hated wisdom and ran away from geometry, therefore God has afflicted you a punishment, for wisdom and philosophical knowledge have a high rank with God." ... The plague was lifted and they ceased to defame the branches of theoretical knowledge. — Mulla Sadra

Geometry will draw the soul toward truth and create the spirit of philosophy. — Plato

Calligraphy is a geometry of the soul which manifests itself physically. — Plato

The ludicrous state of solid geometry made me pass over this branch. — Plato

On Plato's door, it says let no one enter who does not know geometry. On Love's door, it says let no one enter who does not know cry! — Mehmet Murat Ildan

Let no-one ignorant of geometry enter. Said to have been inscribed above the door of Plato's Academy. — Plato

It is through geometry that one purifies the eye of the soul. — Plato

Geometry existed before creation. — Plato

Writing is the geometry of the soul. — Plato

The Golden Proportion, sometimes called the Divine Proportion, has come down to us from the beginning of creation. The harmony of this ancient proportion, built into the very structure of creation, can be unlocked with the 'key' ... 528, opening to us its marvelous beauty. Plato called it the most binding of all mathematical relations, and the key to the physics of the cosmos. — Bonnie Gaunt

It seems to us unwise to have insisted on teaching geometry to the younger Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, in order to make him a good king, but from Plato's point of view it was essential. He was sufficiently Pythagorean to think that without mathematics no true wisdom is possible. — Bertrand Russell

In Euclid's Elements we meet the concept which later plays a significant role in the development of science. The concept is called the "division of a line in extreme and mean ratio" (DEMR). ...the concept occurs in two forms. The first is formulated in Proposition 11 of Book II. ...why did Euclid introduce different forms... which we can find in Books II, VI and XIII? ...Only three types of regular polygons can be faces of the Platonic solids: the equilateral triangle... the square... and the regular pentagon. In order to construct the Platonic solids... we must build the two-dimensional faces... It is for this purpose that Euclid introduced the golden ratio... (Proposition II.11)... By using the "golden" isosceles triangle...we can construct the regular pentagon... Then only one step remains to construct the dodecahedron... which for Plato is one of the most important regular polyhedra symbolizing the universal harmony in his cosmology. — Alexey Stakhov