“Lysis, or Friendship” - Plato Aye, I said; and about your neighbour, too, does as much as he can take up between his fingers?
not the same rule hold as about your father? If he Of course.
is satisfied that you know more of housekeeping Or suppose again that the son has bad eyes, will than he does, will he continue to administer his he allow him, or will he not allow him, to touch his affairs himself, or will he commit them to you?
own eyes if he thinks that he has no knowledge of I think that he will commit them to me.
medicine?
Will not the Athenian people, too, entrust their He will not allow him.
affairs to you when they see that you have wisdom Whereas, if he supposes us to have a knowledge enough to manage them?
of medicine, he will allow us to do what we like Yes.
with him—even to open the eyes wide and sprinkle And oh! let me put another case, I said: There is ashes upon them, because he supposes that we know the great king, and he has an eldest son, who is the what is best?
Prince of Asia;—suppose that you and I go to him That is true.
and establish to his satisfaction that we are better And everything in which we appear to him to be cooks than his son, will he not entrust to us the wiser than himself or his son he will commit to us?
prerogative of making soup, and putting in anything That is very true, Socrates, he replied.
that we like while the pot is boiling, rather than to Then now, my dear Lysis, I said, you perceive that the Prince of Asia, who is his son?
in things which we know every one will trust us,—
To us, clearly.
Hellenes and barbarians, men and women,—and we And we shall be allowed to throw in salt by hand-may do as we please about them, and no one will fuls, whereas the son will not be allowed to put in like to interfere with us; we shall be free, and mas-21
“Lysis, or Friendship” - Plato ters of others; and these things will be really ours, father, nor mother, nor kindred, nor any one else, for we shall be benefited by them. But in things of will be your friends. And in matters of which you which we have no understanding, no one will trust have as yet no knowledge, can you have any con-us to do as seems good to us—they will hinder us ceit of knowledge?
as far as they can; and not only strangers, but fa-That is impossible, he replied.
ther and mother, and the friend, if there be one, And you, Lysis, if you require a teacher, have not who is dearer still, will also hinder us; and we shall yet attained to wisdom.
be subject to others; and these things will not be True.
ours, for we shall not be benefited by them. Do you And therefore you are not conceited, having noth-agree?
ing of which to be conceited.
He assented.
Indeed, Socrates, I think not.
And shall we be friends to others, and will any When I heard him say this, I turned to others love us, in as far as we are useless to them?
Hippothales, and was very nearly making a blun-Certainly not.
der, for I was going to say to him: That is the way, Neither can your father or mother love you, nor Hippothales, in which you should talk to your be-can anybody love anybody else, in so far as they are loved, humbling and lowering him, and not as you useless to them?
do, puffing him up and spoiling him. But I saw that No.
he was in great excitement and confusion at what And therefore, my boy, if you are wise, all men had been said, and I remembered that, although he will be your friends and kindred, for you will be was in the neighbourhood, he did not want to be useful and good; but if you are not wise, neither seen by Lysis; so upon second thoughts I refrained.