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Albus Dumbledore or a Greek Philosopher: Who Do These Quotes Really Belong To?

Calling all Harry Potter fans and Classics nerds! It's no secret that growing up we got some of our most valuable life lessons from Hogwarts' most beloved headmaster. Dumbledore taught us about courage, friendship, and not to worry about what they do to you as long they don't take you off the Chocolate Frog Cards. His advice is so good I'd say it easily stacks up to the fathers of Western Civilization, the Ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

But tack a kindly "Harry" to the end of quotes from those same philosophers, it kind of sounds a lot like something Dumbledore would say. So here's your chance to prove yourselves, Potter fans. Who's really responsible for these 15 quotes?

Image: Warner Bros.

by Emma Cueto

Who Said It?

“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”

Image: dierk schaefer/flickr

Answer: Aristotle

Though this definitely applies to Dumbledore, it was Aristotle who made the observation first.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

"Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young."

Image: schnaars/flickr

Answer: Dumbledore

It's a rather philosophical thought, but not one any ancient philosopher can claim credit for. This one is Dumbledore though and through!

Image: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Who Said It?

"The truth ... is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."

Image: Jason Taellious/flickr

Answer: Dumbledore

The truth is that Dumbledore is responsible for this one.

Image: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Who Said It?

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."

Image: liz west/flickr

Answer: Socrates

Although Dumbledore is pretty anti-ambition, Socrates was already going that route thousands of years ago.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

"The measure of a man is what he does with power."

Image: Neil Turner/flickr

Answer: Plato

No doubt that Dumbledore would agree, though. Maybe he read Plato?

Image: Wikipedia Commons

Who Said It?

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live”

Image: Lynn Lin/flickr

Answer: Dumbledore

Words to live by, no matter who said them. But it was Dumbledore.

Image: Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Who Said It?

"Courage is knowing what not to fear."

Image: nathan willimas/flickr

Answer: Plato

Plato again! If Dumbledore hadn't been available, it turns out a few copies of Plato might have also been good mentors for Harry.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

Image: mjranum-stock/deviant art

Answer: Dumbledore

Some of Dumbledore's most famous and classic advice. Still, it kind of sounds like something Socrates might have said just before drinking the hemlock.

Image: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Who Said It?

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom."

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Answer: Socrates

Yes it is, Socrates, yes it is.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Answer: Aristotle

Sometimes it seemed like Dumbledore did nothing but entertain thoughts — though they were always the coolest of thoughts to be sure — but Aristotle is responsible for this bit of wisdom.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Answer: Dumbledore

Maybe Dumbledore's most important advice ever, it's some the xenophobic Greeks might have done well to listen to. But they were born much too soon, unfortunately.

Image: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Who Said It?

"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. "

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Answer: Plato

Something tells me that if Dumbledore were born in Ancient Greece, he and Plato would have been friends.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

"It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."

Image: Brandon O'Connor/flickr

Answer: Dumbledore

Dumbledore sure knows his stuff.

Image: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Who Said It?

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Answer: Aristotle

Then again, it looks like Aristotle knows his stuff, too.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It?

"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Answer: Dumbledore

Who could ever forget the first words of wisdom Dumbledore chose to share when Harry came to Hogwarts? Though they are probably just a few funny words, knowing Dumbledore, there's also a decent chance that they're a secret code to deciphering the true meaning of life. Or that they are the meaning of life. Who's to say, really?

Image: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

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