I am very conscious that I am not wise at all.
I will not yield to any man contrary to what is right, for fear of death, even if I should die at once for not yielding.
Let us reflect in this way, too, that there is good hope that death is a blessing, for it is one of two things: either the dead are nothing and have no perception of anything, or it is, as we are told, a change and a relocation for the soul from here to another place.
Either I do not corrupt the young or, if I do, it is unwillingly.
Since I am convinced that I wrong no one, I am not likely to wrong myself.
In my investigation in the service of the god I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient, while those who were thought to be inferior were more knowledgeable.
You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good or a bad man.
It is not the purpose of a juryman's office to give justice as a favor to whoever seems good to him, but to judge according to law, and this he has sworn to do.
To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know.
Neither I nor any other man should, on trial or in way, contrive to avoid death at any cost.