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The same doubt is implied in the earnestness with which he argues

in the Republic that ideals are none the worse because they

cannot be realized in fact, and in the chorus of laughter, which

like a breaking wave will, as he anticipates, greet the mention

of his proposals; though like other writers of fiction, he uses

all his art to give reality to his inventions. When asked how the

ideal polity can come into being, he answers ironically, 'When

one son of a king becomes a philosopher'; he designates the

fiction of the earth-born men as 'a noble lie'; and when the

structure is finally complete, he fairly tells you that his

Republic is a vision only, which in some sense may have reality,

but not in the vulgar one of a reign of philosophers upon earth.

It has been said that Plato flies as well as walks, but this

falls short of the truth; for he flies and walks at the same

time, and is in the air and on firm ground in successive

instants.