> Socrates did not write down any of his thoughts, however his dialogues were recorded by his student and protégé, the philosopher Plato (428 – 347 BCE).

Plato did not "write down" Socrates' dialogues. Plato wrote the dialogues. Though we do have some authentic ideas from Socrates, such as, "I know that I know nothing," the idea that wisdom begins with ignorance, and most scholars still accept The Apology as at least quasi-historical. Socrates must have made a great impression on Plato, but when we read The Republic, we are not reading Socrates. It is the humble and brilliant Plato, alone.