It fortunately happened, too, that his moral theories, however inadequately argued upon, were noble and exalting.

He contended for the providence of a God, as well as for the immortality of man.

He asserted vice to be the most hateful, virtue the most profitable of all things [193].

He waged war on that vulgar tenacity of life which is the enemy to all that is most spiritual and most enterprising in our natures, and maintained that between life and death there is no difference--the fitting deduction from a belief in the continuous existence of the soul [194].

His especial maxim was the celebrated precept, "Know thyself." His influence was vigorous and immediate.
How far he created philosophy may be doubtful, but he created philosophers.