Pagina 678 di 1391

And can the just by justice make men unjust, or speaking

generally, can the good by virtue make them bad?

Assuredly not.

Any more than heat can produce cold?

It cannot.

Or drought moisture?

Clearly not.

Nor can the good harm any one?

Impossible.

And the just is the good?

Certainly.

Then to injure a friend or any one else is not the act of a just

man, but of the opposite, who is the unjust?

I think that what you say is quite true, Socrates.

Then if a man says that justice consists in the repayment of

debts, and that good is the debt which a just man owes to his

friends, and evil the debt which he owes to his enemies,-to say

this is not wise; for it is not true, if, as has been clearly

shown, the injuring of another can be in no case just.

I agree with you, said Polemarchus.

Then you and I are prepared to take up arms against any one who

attributes such a saying to Simonides or Bias or Pittacus, or any

other wise man or seer?

I am quite ready to do battle at your side, he said.