I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
Socrates
A Citizen of the World
Topic: Society & Civil Religion
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”
Socrates
HellenismWilson, Andrew, editor. World Scripture II. Universal Peace Federation, 2011, p. 1035 [Socrates].
Socrates
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Socrates, A Citizen of the World
Diogenes, in about 412 BC, was probably the first to use the expression and express the very same sentiment. When asked where he came from, he replied: “I am a citizen of the world (kosmopolitês)”.
Socrates (469-399 BC) concurred: “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” as reported by Plutarch, On Banishment.
This was indeed a revolutionary thought, because at that time, social identity in Greece was either bound to the city-states, Athens and Sparta, or to the Greeks (the Hellenes). Perhaps it is just as revolutionary today.
–Roger Abrantes [A citizen of the world, 2017].