Socrates and Plato were well known philosophers in their time and they still are today. Like all leaders, Socrates and Plato had their strengths and weaknesses. These strengths and weaknesses worked to balance each one of their lives. Nobody can be strong without being weak at some point in time.
Socrates greatest strength was his integrity. In the passage Apology, Socrates states many times that he has always been "the same in all [his] actions, public as well as private." This high integrity was defiantly Socrates strength. However, Socrates greatest weakness was that he never believed that he was teaching anyone. Socrates stated that he would let anyone listen to his words. This was his greatest weakness because he was in so much denial to see that what he said was changing the society he lived in and his tunnel vision and couldn"t see it. Not that what he was saying was harmful, but for as wise as he was, he couldn"t see his own footsteps.
Plato greatest strength was his ability to learn from his teachers and then draw his own conclusions while writing down his thoughts. Unlike Socrates, Plato wrote all his philosophy down including many dialogues from Socrates teachings. Without Plato's strength in writing, the world today would be without historical philosophy that has helped shape our society today. Plato learned so much from Socrates that he was able to teach others about Socrates as well as new ideas that he came up with. However, Plato's greatest weakness was that he would only allow certain people to hear his dialect. Every great leader should allow anyone to listen that has ears. This was he greatest weakness because secluding people with less intelligence from teaching will not further any society.
