Most men live chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall, and trying to guess the nature of objects reflected by a fire.

Men who allow their experience to be shaped by perceptions and shadows do not know a better life.

A philosopher is like a prisoner freed from the cave that comes to understand that the shadows are not reality, rather he understands reality by his experience.

A philosopher must return to share the news of enlightenment with others who will not necessarily accept his good news.

"From the beginning people like this have never managed, whether on their own or with the help by others, to see anything besides the shadows that are [continually] projected on the wall opposite them by the glow of the fire."

"People live under the earth in a cave-like dwelling. Stretching a long way up toward the daylight is its entrance, toward which the entire cave is gathered. The people have been in this dwelling since childhood, shackled by the legs and neck . . ."

"And now, I responded, consider this: If this person who had gotten out of the cave were to go back down again and sit in the same place as before, would he not find in that case, coming suddenly out of the sunlight, that his eyes were filled with darkness?"

"And having done all that, by this time he would also be able to gather the following about the sun: (1) that it is that which grants both the seasons and the years; . . . and (3) that it is also the cause of all those things that the people dwelling in the cave have before [their] eyes in some way or other."

Ordinary people living in the world not realizing that everything is an illusion.

Philosophers who help other seekers to understand ideas of truth, perception and reality.

Philosophers and those who see the world as an illusion.

People who want to break free to experience truth and reality but are bound by their own chains.