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And how am I to convince you, he said, if you are not already

convinced by what I have just said; what more can I do for you?

Would you have me put the proof bodily into your souls?

Heaven forbid! I said; I would only ask you to be consistent; or,

if you change, change openly and let there be no deception. For I

must remark, Thrasymachus, if you will recall what was previously

said, that although you began by defining the true physician in

an exact sense, you did not observe a like exactness when

speaking of the shepherd; you thought that the shepherd as a

shepherd tends the sheep not with a view to their own good, but

like a mere diner or banquetter with a view to the pleasures of

the table; or, again, as a trader for sale in the market, and not

as a shepherd. Yet surely the art of the shepherd is concerned

only with the good of his subjects; he has only to provide the

best for them, since the perfection of the art is already ensured

whenever all the requirements of it are satisfied. And that was

what I was saying just now about the ruler.