Shadowing Practice: 9 Life Lessons From Socrates (Socratic Skepticism) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Socrates lived between 469 and 399 BCE and he is one of the most famous philosophers in the entire history of humankind.

He is sometimes considered as the founder of Western philosophy and his work reflects the philosophy of skepticism,

which has at its main base that knowledge can be obtained and through systematic doubt and continual testing.

Although Socrates hasn't actually written anything, he has forever changed philosophy itself.

Most of the things we know today about his philosophy came from Plato,

Aristophanes and Zephanon whose writings are in the form of dialogues between Socrates and other Athenians.

These writings gave birth to a new literary genre called the Socratic dialogue.

Unfortunately, he is also famous for his tragic life.

In 399 BCE, he was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and of failing to acknowledge the city's official gods.

After a trial that

That lasted just a single day, he was sentenced to death.

He spent his last day in prison, refusing to escape.

The way his life ended can be considered as the founding myth of philosophy as a discipline.

For one to really practice philosophy, they have to go against societal norms, to question everything even at the risk of their own peril.

Everything about Socrates was impressive, his appearance, personality and behaviour, as well as in his views and methods.

And this made many of the people around him to write about him, including Plato.

It is unfortunate that Socrates didn't write at all and all we have is indirect evidence.

Also, it is said that each age produces a Socrates of its own,

however, there are some core fundamental teachings of the original Socrates that transcend the centuries.

And to help you better understand his teachings and how you can implement them into your own life,

in this video we bring you 9 life lessons we can learn from the philosophy of Socrates.

1. Open yourself to the truth Socrates said,

the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

This quote is one of the most famous quotes of all time.

It is also called the Socratic paradox.

It was called a paradox because such a statement of Socrates seems contrary to common sense.

This quote is a reply of Socrates to the Oracle of Delphi

which stated that Socrates is the wisest

and Socrates replied to this statement by saying that he is wise because he knows nothing.

He simply considered that he didn't know what the truth was.

Truth is that which is in accordance with fact or reality,

and Socrates was very famous for developing a mental model for seeking truth, calling it elenchos, also known as the Socratic method,

consisting in analysing all the elements of an argument, to understand the hypotheses on which the argument is constructed,

to see if these hypotheses are based on facts and if they are valid.

Thus, according to Socrates, we can pursue the truth by constantly asking questions to others and digging deeper into problems and thought experiments.

His teachings are extremely valuable even today when we need

so much to develop our critical thinking in how we analyse our life or society in general.

If we just eat, sleep, sleep, work and procreate, we are no better than any other animal.

In Socrates' view, such a life would not be worth living.

It's important to never stop learning new things, asking questions and developing ourselves,

and to never assume that once you know something, it's enough.

You need to always question what you know as a fact,

seek evidence and refresh your knowledge constantly. For example,

imagine that you are working in an engineering department and you are informed that you have to follow a certain design methodology,

but you don't understand the reasons why.

Instead of just working by following orders, you'd be better off applying the Socratic method.

Ask your boss as many questions as possible to fully understand why this method is as it is,

who proved that it is really the best and what methods that person used.

If you find the explanation unsatisfactory, you might even propose a new designing method and you could increase the quality of the design overall.

Don't just follow orders and pretend that you know what you are doing.

Only through acknowledging that you don't know something are you in a position to ask others questions to find out more,

thereby developing your knowledge and skills and by extension, improve your career.

2. Be Courageous According to Socrates, Socrates.

He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.

Socrates was a contrarian and a polarizing figure, not only through his looks and behavior,

but also through his way of interrogating people around him and because he didn't acknowledge the official gods.

Due to this, in 399 BCE, he was arrested for corrupting the youth and brought to trial which lasted just a single day.

In the end, he was sentenced to death.

In spite of being offered the possibility to escape, he decided to remain in prison before his tragic death.

death.

He died by drinking poison hemlock.

Certainly, Socrates was a man of great courage until the day he died.

During his life, he was never afraid to go against the current of Athenian opinion.

He was seeking the real truths behind the common beliefs.

He refused refused to believe in the gods.

He refused to be part of the political arena.

No matter the cost, we need to stand up for our moral principles.

For example, when your boss at work asks you to betray one of your colleagues, you should refuse it even at the risk of getting fired.

When you are at a family reunion and you catch an old relative saying something racist or bigoted,

you have to speak up and start a tough conversation with the people involved.

Remaining silent when you have to speak up

and obeying unjust orders means partnering with the abuser or with the criminal and causing harm to innocent people.

Courage is not only a desirable trait we need to have, but it is the mark of any moral human being.

3. Be Authentic To quote Socrates,

the greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

Socrates never shied away from proclaiming his views, no matter the danger.

He didn't take sides in politics, he was far more interested in seeking the truth than in political and social status.

Ultimately, his stubbornness to be who he really was led him to trial and premature death.

But due to the fact that he had the courage to be authentic,

to question everything publicly, he lived honorably and his fame has lasted to this day way.

Socrates was also bold enough to proclaim his ignorance towards many subjects.

He didn't hesitate to ask others questions in order to find the truth.

Even in regards to physical appearance, he didn't polish himself to look more than he was.

Most of us do not have the courage that Socrates had, but we can learn from him to be more straightforward,

more honest, to better align our ideal of ourselves with who we truly are.

This means to stop seeking the approval of other people,

to stop dressing and behaving to impress others in order to be seen as we would like them to see us.

It is much better instead to work more in shaping our character than in lying

and deceiving others in regard to who we truly are.

If you are not happy about how you look, work on building muscles or losing weight instead of buying clothes to try and fake it.

Stop pretending to be who you are not and use

that energy to start the real work on addressing the main sources of the problems.

Only then can you be the true authentic version of yourself.

4. Be humble Socrates tells us,

pride divides the men, humility joins them.

It is said that Socrates had an unpleasant appearance.

He was short with a big belly, with rough facial features, bulging eyes and a snub nose.

He was extremely mocked due to his looks, but he didn't seem to care that much.

He continued to use the same cloak every day, living a poor life, not caring either for his hygiene or for eating and drinking well.

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However, also because of his humble appearance, he was able to speak with people from all walks of life,

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whomever he was finding in the marketplace or other public areas.

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Male or female, young or old, slave or free, rich or poor.

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His humility gave him a special freedom and many possibilities to interact with different types of people.

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Although only a few of us would want to look like Socrates and adopt such an austere lifestyle,

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we can still adopt some aspects of his humility in order to be more free

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and to be able to experience life more fully.

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Humility means first of all freedom from pride and arrogance.

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The bigger your status in society, the more you need to practice humility.

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If, for example, you are a manager in a factory, you need an amount of humility to talk to employees working under you

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and listen to their suggestions on how to improve teamwork.

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If you adopt an arrogant and demanding attitude, you will deprive yourself of a valuable input from your subordinates.

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If you want your staff to respect you, you have to respect them equally.

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They are the creators, the ones actually performing the primary functions of the business,

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giving them unique, valuable insights you can't see from a management or executive level perspective.

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If your staff feel like they are truly valued and respected, they will generally want to return that respect with delivering to their best abilities.

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Only when you have created such a connection will they open up to you

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and give valuable feedback which you can use to improve the working methods in your factory.

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The more humble we are, the more approachable we are, and thus, the better our connection with others, leading to more, better opportunities.

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5. Beware the busyness of life

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In the words of Socrates, Beware the barrenness of a busy life

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In the late 5th century BCE, when Socrates lived, most of the Athenian men preferred fame,

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wealth, honours and political power to a life of labour.

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They always seem to have a busy life, but not a happy one.

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By contrast, Socrates neither labored to earn a living nor participated voluntarily in affairs of state.

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Rather, in spite of his popularity, he chose to remain in poverty.

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He wasn't even interested in being considered a teacher.

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He believed it was more important to teach people to think

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by themselves than to fill their memories with new things that they may not even use.

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Doing things just for money

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or for fame was not one of his interests as he understood

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that living a life without a real purpose is an empty life.

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Following Socrates' example, we should all be careful not to have a busy and empty life, but rather a meaningful life.

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Nowadays, there are so many activities activities we can engage in, so many things to choose from.

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If we don't know how to limit our desires for more money,

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more things, more fame, we risk the possibility that we completely fill our time with activities, leaving no time to stop and process,

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to digest everything going on in our life, to find the meaning and make better, considered decisions going forward.

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Running after money and fame won't give us real meaning in our lives.

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All it does is cost time and energy, both of which can be better spent doing things that actually fulfill you, things you really enjoy.

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You don't have to try to do everything you're capable of doing in life,

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just start by figuring out what's really meaningful to you and prioritize your activities accordingly.

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Life can only become meaningful when you do meaningful activities.

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6. Be a citizen of the world Socrates stated,

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I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

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We shouldn't be defined by artificial borders like the geographical border of our country.

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People shouldn't be just citizens of their state, they should be citizens of the world.

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Now more than ever there are many more things that unite us than separate us.

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Unfortunately, we humans typically think of ourselves in small groups, our block or street, our town,

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our county or state, our country.

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If the internet has taught us nothing else, us, it has taught us

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that we might have more in common with someone thousands of miles away than you do with your own neighbour.

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We are all human beings, no more, no less.

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And making judgements about a fellow human based on differences like nationality,

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skin colour, gender or in fact anything other than their behaviour and actions is utterly nonsensical.

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Socrates understood this very well, even though at that time this idea was truly revolutionary.

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Greece was divided into many smaller states like Athens and Sparta, and there were many wars between them.

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But Socrates was not a fan of politics.

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He refused to take sides with one party or another.

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He was more interested in finding an objective truth than in a subjective one, person, or in aligning himself with a certain group of people.

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In the same way, we should be interested more in the common moral principles

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which connect us than in the apparent differences between us.

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If you meet someone from another country, from another culture, don't focus on how different they dress from you or how they behave and think,

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but rather focus on the physical and psychological needs you have in common, to have enough food to eat, a shelter over your head,

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to feel you are a part of a community, to feel secure, to take care of your family and so on.

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All humans on this planet have the same basic needs

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and this is the common ground from which we should engage with one another.

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We are all citizens of this world.

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7. Be happy with less Socrates posits that,

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the secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.

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Happiness is, by definition, an end goal of our desires.

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Happiness is not a given, it requires a certain effort.

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And the fewer desires we have, the easier it is to achieve happiness.

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Socrates believed that the real secret to happiness is to have a moral life, to be just.

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By being so, you can be more peaceful, more content with your current affairs and desire fewer possessions.

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Thus, happiness is not a result of having more, it is more a result of a mindset,

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of the ability to enjoy the small things in life.

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We need to work more on our inner state of mind, rather than trying to possess as many things as possible,

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like money, property, cars and so on.

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An easy way to introduce more happiness into our life is through making small changes every day.

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You can start by practicing meditation, taking a short walk after lunch to the nearest park, taking part in sport, writing a diary,

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connecting with your friends and relatives, even something as simple as watching your favorite comedy and so on.

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Over time, you can introduce more new habits, which cumulatively can increase your level of happiness.

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Don't expect a new apartment, a new car or even winning the lottery to make you happy.

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Real happiness requires less effort than you might expect.

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It usually consists of developing small habits you can follow and build on every day.

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By being a moral person and focusing on practicing healthy habits every day, you can be happy with surprisingly little effort.

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8. Don't Seek Vengeance As we learn from Socrates,

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one should never do wrong in return nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him.

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For Socrates, vengeance is by definition unjust and there is never a good motivation to justify it.

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This philosophy on vengeance is expressed in one of the dialogues of Plato, where Socrates debates Paul Marcus,

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who believes that if it is just to give each man what is owed,

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so So too it is just to do good for a good friend and to do harm to an enemy.

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Socrates made Paul Marcus realise that when harmed, human beings tend to become less virtuous, not more.

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So while it may be cathartic to balance the scales by acting on the ancient expression an eye for an eye,

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the net result is that you drive your enemies towards further immorality.

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Harming someone makes neither you nor them a better person, thus vengeance is never justified.

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No matter how badly someone has hurt you, you need to calmly reply and walk away.

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It could be your best friend who betrayed you, it could be someone who spread false rumours about you in public,

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your partner who cheated on you, or your boss who unfairly criticized you.

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No matter what, you need to calmly evaluate the situation.

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If appropriate, express your hurt feelings in a polite way, demand a correction or apology, and if this is not possible,

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pack your bags and walk away.

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Don't do the same thing to the other person, don't sink down to their level.

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Instead, maintain your humanity, defend yourself, self, claim an apology, or walk away.

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9. Have a sense of humor

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In our final quote from Socrates for this video, he says, By all means marry.

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If you get a good wife, you will become happy.

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If you get a bad one, you will become a philosopher.

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Socrates was well known for his sense of humor.

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He was often making jokes about his wife Xanthippe, who was 30 years younger than him,

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explaining that she had a bad temper and a difficult personality, suggesting that he became a philosopher due to this issue and

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that the marriage with her is a great school in dealing with difficult situations.

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They even had an argument when she visited him in prison before his death.

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She was crying, saying that he was condemned unfairly, and he joked about it,

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saying, would you think this situation was less regrettable if they had condemned me fairly?

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Perhaps we can all implement a bit of Socratic humor in our own lives.

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No matter the situation, good or bad, making jokes can lighten up other people and us.

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Laughter is a powerful tool which can bring people closer, when used carefully, without malevolence or bad intentions.

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Laughter releases stress and makes us more resilient against the daily difficulties of life.

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Studies have shown a relationship is more likely to last if the partners find the same things funny.

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To make your relationships long -lasting, To quote the comedian Reginald D.

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Hunter, you have to find the funnies.

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Whether that's finding shows, movies or comedians you both enjoy, or just seeing the same humour in life situations,

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a good joke, said without bad intentions, can light up the spirits and create truly memorable moments.

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If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to check out our full Philosophies for Life playlist.

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And for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical wisdom, don't forget to subscribe.

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Thanks so much for watching.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “9 Life Lessons From Socrates”. This video has 226 sentences and 3268 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:33. The speaker talks at a steady 133 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
happiness noun	/ˈhæpinɪs/	The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.
humility noun	/hjuːˈmɪlɪti/	The characteristic of being humble; humbleness in character and behavior.
moral adjective	/ˈmoɹəl/	Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude.
fame noun	/feɪm/	One's reputation.
courage noun	/ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/	The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
meaningful adjective	/ˈmiː.nɪŋ.fl̩/	Having meaning, significant.
humour noun	/ˈhjuːmɚ/	The quality of being amusing, comical, funny.
vengeance noun	/ˈvɛnˌd͡ʒəns/	Revenge taken for an insult, injury, or other wrong.
pretend verb	/pɹəˈtɛnd/	To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
dialogue noun	/ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/	A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals.
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
adopt verb	/əˈdɑpt/	To take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child.
humble adjective	/ˈhʌmbəl/	Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
authentic adjective	/ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/	Of the same origin as claimed; genuine.
relative noun	/ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/	Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
walk away verb		To withdraw from a problematic situation.
speak up verb	/ˌspik ˈʌp/	To talk more loudly or clearly.
check out verb		To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
going forward adverb		In the immediate future and beyond.
light up verb		To illuminate, to bring light to something, to brighten.
run away verb		To flee by running.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is sometimes considered · can be obtained · was accused
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	hasn't actually written · has lasted · have created
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	that which is · friend who betrayed · tool which can

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 26 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, didn't, shouldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/, myth /mɪθ/, thereby /ðɛɹˈbaɪ/, methodology /ˌmɛθ.əˈdɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: intentions /ɪnˈtɛnʃənz/, contrast /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, extension /ɪkˈstɛnʃən/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, polish /ˈpɑ.lɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: humility /hjuːˈmɪlɪti/, apology /əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/, philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like happiness, humility, moral.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: 9 Life Lessons From Socrates (Socratic Skepticism) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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