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Xenophon's verdict on Socrates

c. 371–354 BCE, Athens. Xenophon's own words, closing the Memorabilia.

Where and when

c. 371–354 BCEAthens

about 2,387 years ago

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Xenophon

, AthensXenophon's own words, closing the Memorabilia

In plain words, ours

To me he was everything a truly good and happy man should be. If you doubt it, compare other people with him, then decide.

To me then he seemed to be all that a truly good and happy man must be. But if there is any doubter, let him set the character of other men beside these things; then let him judge.

Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.8.11Translated by E. C. Marchant (1923)Read the full passage (Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.8.11, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

These are Xenophon's closing words in his book about Socrates, written years after Socrates was put to death in 399 BCE. Xenophon has just summed him up as religious, just, self-controlled and wise, and says those who knew him still miss him.

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. 399 BCEabout 37 years earlier Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death The event behind it
  2. c. 367 BCEabout 5 years earlier Aristotle, aged about seventeen, joins Plato's Academy Also in Athens
  3. c. 371–354 BCEThis momentXenophon's verdict on Socrates
  4. c. 371–354 BCEDuring it Xenophon answers the charge against Socrates More from Xenophon
  5. c. 371–354 BCEDuring it Xenophon on Socrates and appetite More from Xenophon
  6. c. 371–354 BCEDuring it Xenophon on how Socrates faced death Same passage
  7. c. 371–354 BCEDuring it Xenophon on how Socrates lived More from Xenophon
  8. c. 360–348 BCEabout 8 years later Plato's Athenian Stranger on law over rulers Also in Athens
  9. c. 360–348 BCEabout 8 years later The Athenian Stranger on puppets of the gods Also in Athens
  10. c. 360–348 BCEabout 8 years later The Athenian Stranger on truth Also about how to live well
  11. by 348 BCEabout 14 years later Diogenes tramples Plato's carpets 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

This was the tenor of his conversation with Hermogenes and with the others. All who knew what manner of man Socrates was and who seek after virtue continue to this day to miss him beyond all others, as the chief of helpers in the quest of virtue. For myself, I have described him as he was: so religious that he did nothing without counsel from the gods; so just that he did no injury, however small, to any man, but conferred the greatest benefits on all who dealt with him; so self-controlled that he never chose the pleasanter rather than the better course; so wise that he was unerring in his judgment of the better and the worse, and needed no counsellor, but relied on himself for his knowledge of them; masterly in expounding and defining such things; no less masterly in putting others to the test, and convincing them of error and exhorting them to follow virtue and gentleness.

The quote: To me then he seemed to be all that a truly good and happy man must be. But if there is any doubter, let him set the character of other men beside these things; then let him judge.

Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.8.11Translated by E. C. Marchant (1923)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
c. 371–354 BCE. Written well after Socrates' death in 399 BCE; often dated c. 371 BCE or later, before Xenophon's death c. 354 BCE.
Whose words
Xenophon's own words, closing the Memorabilia.
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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