25 A Wise Man

He was a funny-looking man with a cheerful face, good-natured and a great talker. He was described by his student, the great philosopher Plato, as "the best and most just man was the same man was the Greek philosopher Socrates, condemned to death for his beliefs.

The man was the Greek philosopher Socrates, condemned to death for his beliefs. The second charge stemmed from his association with numerous young men who came to Athens from all over the civilized world to study under him. Socrates' method of teaching was to ask questions and, by pretending not to know the answers, to press his students into thinking for themselves. His teachings had an unsurpassed influence on all the great Greek and Roman schools of philosophy. Yet for all his fame and influence, Socrates himself never wrote a word.

Socrates encouraged new ideas and free thinking in the young, and this was frightening to conservative Athenians. They wanted him silenced. Yet many were probably surprised that he accepted death so readily. Socrates had the right to ask for a lesser penalty, and he probably could have swayed enough of the voters it was major properly condemned him. But Socrates could firmly believe in law, his fate and drank a cup of poison hemlock in the presence of his grief-stricken friends and students.

25 智者

他长相滑稽，面容开朗，性情温和，还很健谈。他的学生、伟大的哲学家柏拉图将他描述为“最好、最公正的人”——这个人就是希腊哲学家苏格拉底，他因自己的信仰被判处死刑。

这个人就是希腊哲学家苏格拉底，因信仰被判处死刑。第二项指控源于他与许多从文明世界各地来到雅典向他求学的年轻人交往。苏格拉底的教学方法是提问，并通过假装不知道答案，促使学生独立思考。他的 teachings对希腊和罗马所有伟大的哲学学派都产生了无可比拟的影响。然而，尽管声名显赫、影响深远，苏格拉底自己却从未写下只言片语。

苏格拉底鼓励年轻人产生新思想、自由思考，这让保守的雅典人感到恐惧，他们想让他闭嘴。但许多人可能惊讶于他如此坦然地接受死亡。苏格拉底有权请求从轻处罚，他或许本可以说服足够多的投票者（这些人原本判定他有罪）。但苏格拉底坚信法律和自己的命运，在悲痛欲绝的朋友和学生面前，喝下了一杯毒芹汁。