A PLATO SAMPLER

From THE REPUBLIC

"Then in general, the classes of things concerned with the care of the body have less of truth and real being than the classes of things concerned with the care of the soul?"

"Much less."

". . . Then those who have no experience of wisdom and virtue, who are always at their feastings and so forth, are being carried downwards, as it seems, and back again to the middle region, and there they wander about all their lives; as to passing above this limit, they have never even cast a look to the true upwards and never been there, never been filled with what really is or had a taste of pure and abiding pleasure. Like brute beasts, they look ever downwards, and feed stooping over the ground and poking their noses into their tables, cropping and coupling; and to get more and more of these things they kick and butt with iron horns and hooves and kill one another because of their insatiate desire, since they fail either to satisfy with real things the real part of themselves, or to fill up that vessel, their body."

". . . Clever and unjust men behave like racers who make a good run of it from the start, and collapse on the way from the turn; they . . . end up by being laughed at like a lot of fools, and run away uncrowned with their ears down on their shoulders, but real racers keep on to the finish, and win the prizes and the crown."

". . . We, my dear Glaucon, must take most care that each one of us shall disregard all studies, except this one study ... to see if he shall be able to learn and discover in any place one who shall give him the ability and intelligence to know a good life from a bad, and to choose always and everywhere the best that the conditions allow; . . . one who shall teach him how thus to know what beauty mingled with poverty or riches, in union with what state of soul, will work evil or good; what will be the effect of high birth or low birth, private station or governing station, strength or weakness, cleverness or dullness in learning, and all such qualities of the soul natural or acquired--what effects they will have when commingled together; so that it will be possible for him, by taking account of all these things, to make his choice: keeping his gaze fixed all the while on the nature of the soul, and considering both the worse and the better life, calling it worse if it so leads the soul that it becomes more unjust, and better if it leads the soul to become more just. All else he will leave alone, for we have seen that this is the best choice, both for living and for dying."

From THE DEFENSE OF SOCRATES

". . . Now therefore, gentlemen, so far from pleading for my own sake, as one might expect, I plead for your sakes, that you may not offend about God's gift by condemning me. For if you put me to death, you will not easily find such another, really like something stuck on the state by the god, though it is rather laughable to say so; for the state is like a big thoroughbred horse, so big that he is a bit slow and heavy, and wants a gadfly to wake him up. I think the god put me on the state something like that, to wake you up and persuade you and reproach you every one."

"Do not be annoyed" at my telling the truth; the fact is that no man in the world will come off safe who honestly opposes either you or any other multitude, and tries to hinder the many unjust and illegal doings in a state. It is necessary that one who really and truly fights for the right . . . shall act as a private man, not as a public man."

". . . No, gentlemen, the difficult thing is not to escape death, I think, but to escape wickedness--that is much more difficult, for that runs faster than death. And now I, being slow and old, have been caught by the slower one; but my accusers, being clever and quick, have been caught by the swifter . . . And now I and they depart. I condemned by you to death, but these, condemned by truth to depravity and injustice. I abide by my penalty, they by theirs."

". . . If you believe that by putting men to death you will stop everyone from reproaching you because your life is wrong, you make a great mistake; for this riddance is neither possible nor honourable; but another is most honourable and most easy, not to cut off lives, but to offer yourselves readily to be made as good as you can be."

". . . And now it is time to go, I to die, and you to live; but which of us goes to a better thing is unknown to all but God."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.