This quote is often attributed to Socrates. But there’s no evidence he ever said it. And that matters.

Socrates didn’t dismiss people or events. He interrogated them. Closely. Relentlessly. Because ideas don’t float in the air. They grow out of lives, actions, failures, and choices.

Reducing thought to a hierarchy like this sounds clever, but it misses the point. Strong minds don’t avoid people. They study them. They don’t ignore events. They ask why they happened. Ideas without context turn brittle fast.

The real Socratic movement was refusing easy answers.