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Socrates on not returning wrong for wrong

set in 399 BCE, Athens, the prison. As Plato tells it.

Where and when

set in 399 BCEAthens, the prison

2,424 years ago

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Socrates

, Athens, the prisonAs Plato tells it

In plain words, ours

Never pay back a wrong with a wrong, or do harm to anyone, whatever they did to you.

Then we ought neither to requite wrong with wrong nor to do evil to anyone, no matter what he may have done to us.

Plato, Crito 49cTranslated by Harold North Fowler (1914)Read the full passage (Plato, Crito 49c, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

As Plato tells it, Socrates is in prison in Athens after being condemned to death, talking with Crito. Step by step they agree that doing wrong is always evil, even when it pays back a wrong.

Checked claim by claim against: Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

About the event it belongs to: Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death

Plato's account of the trial and death inspired writers, artists and philosophers to return to it. Some saw the execution as showing the defects of democracy; others as a justifiable defence of a newly restored democracy.

Based on Wikipedia: Trial of Socrates

Plato's presentation of the trial and death of Socrates inspired writers, artists, and philosophers to revisit the matter.

For some, the execution of the man whom Plato called "the wisest and most just of all men" demonstrated the defects of democracy and of popular rule; for others, the Athenian actions were a justifiable defence of the recently re-established democracy.

Wikipedia, Trial of Socrates (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-10-01. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. c. 420–413 BCEabout 18 years earlier Orestes on judging a man's worth Also about how to live well
  2. 406 BCE7 years earlier Athens wins at Arginusae, then condemns its generals Also about justice and law
  3. 404 BCE5 years earlier The Thirty take power in Athens Same years
  4. set in 404–403 BCEabout 5 years earlier Theramenes on his way to execution Also about justice and law
  5. 403 BCE4 years earlier Democracy returns to Athens, with an amnesty Same years
  6. 399 BCESame year Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death The event behind itAlso in Athens
  7. set in 399 BCEThis momentSocrates on not returning wrong for wrong
  8. by 399 BCEBy this year Aspasia on honest matchmaking Also in Athens
  9. set in 399 BCESame year The charge Meletus swore against Socrates Also in Athens
  10. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates in prison on living well Same passage
  11. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates and the oracle at Delphi More from Socrates
  12. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on what makes things beautiful More from Socrates
  13. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on knowing that he does not know More from Socrates
  14. c. 386 BCEabout 13 years later Aspasia's speech on wealth and cowardice Also about how to live well

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

Or is not what we used to say most certainly true, whether the world agree or not? And whether we must endure still more grievous sufferings than these, or lighter ones, is not wrongdoing inevitably an evil and a disgrace to the wrongdoer? Do we believe this or not? Crito. We do. Socrates. Then we ought not to do wrong at all. Crito. Why, no. Socrates. And we ought not even to requite wrong with wrong, as the world thinks, since we must not do wrong at all. Crito. Apparently not. Socrates. Well, Crito, ought one to do evil or not? Crito. Certainly not, Socrates. Socrates. Well, then, is it right to requite evil with evil, as the world says it is, or not right? Crito. Not right, certainly. Socrates. For doing evil to people is the same thing as wronging them. Crito. That is true. Socrates.

The quote: Then we ought neither to requite wrong with wrong nor to do evil to anyone, no matter what he may have done to us.

And be careful, Crito, that you do not, in agreeing to this, agree to something you do not believe; for I know that there are few who believe or ever will believe this. Now those who believe this, and those who do not, have no common ground of discussion, but they must necessarily, in view of their opinions, despise one another.

Plato, Crito 49b–dTranslated by Harold North Fowler (1914)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in 399 BCE. Set in prison in 399 BCE, in the days between Socrates' sentence and his execution.
Whose words
As Plato tells it.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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