Like many philosophers, Socrates led a very interesting life and it's worth noting what we know about him does not come directly from his writing. We don't have surviving accounts of his writing. It comes mainly through the writing of his students, Xenophon and most notably Plato. We also get some parody of Socrates from Aristophanes that Socrates himself did not appreciate much. But what we know is that he started in life, he was a stonemason, he even acted as a soldier, a hoplite during the Peloponnesian War. But he's of course most famous for being a philosopher and for being a teacher. And his teaching style, the Socratic method, is still viewed as something of a best practice today.