Who said “The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome…”?

Verified

Richard Rorty. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceContingency, Irony, and Solidarity (1989)

Find Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity on Amazon · paid link

Evidence: Wikiquote · How we check

Source checked · Something wrong? Report a correction

Authors A–Z

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (1989).

APA

Rorty, R. (n.d.). The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome young nobleman to write long dialogues on large topics. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/32471-the-usual-picture-of-socrates-is-of-an/

MLA

Rorty, Richard. “The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome young nobleman to write long dialogues on large topics.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/32471-the-usual-picture-of-socrates-is-of-an/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Rorty, Richard. “The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome young nobleman to write long dialogues on large topics.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/32471-the-usual-picture-of-socrates-is-of-an/.

Related quotes

More quotes by Richard Rorty

“The world does not speak. Only we do. The world can, once we have programmed ourselves with a language, cause us to hold beliefs. But it cannot propose a language for us to speak. Only other human beings can do that.”
VerifiedContingency, Irony, and Solidarity (1989) · evidenceDetails & citeSpeech
“The difference between people and ideas is... only superficial.”
Ideas
“Open-mindedness should not be fostered because, as Scripture teaches, Truth is great and will prevail, nor because, as Milton suggests, Truth will always win in a free and open encounter. It should be fostered for its own sake.”
Awareness
All 5 Richard Rorty quotes →