“ Let the unjust man be entirely unjust, and the just man entirely just ”
Plato, The Republic. copy citation
Author | Plato |
---|---|
Source | The Republic |
Topic | |
Date | |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by Benjamin Jowett |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1497/1497-h/1497-h.htm |
Context
“If you could imagine any one obtaining this power of becoming invisible, and never doing any wrong or touching what was another's, he would be thought by the lookers-on to be a most wretched idiot, although they would praise him to one another's faces, and keep up appearances with one another from a fear that they too might suffer injustice. Enough of this.
Now, if we are to form a real judgment of the life of the just and unjust, we must isolate them; there is no other way; and how is the isolation to be effected? I answer: Let the unjust man be entirely unjust, and the just man entirely just; nothing is to be taken away from either of them, and both are to be perfectly furnished for the work of their respective lives. First, let the unjust be like other distinguished masters of craft; like the skilful pilot or physician, who knows intuitively his own powers and keeps within their limits, and who, if he fails at any point, is able to recover himself.”
source