|
Parody ... Jump / Trump --- van Halen jump
"The Democrat Meltdown Continues"
"Yes, We Need Deportations Without Due Process"
"Trump's Tariff Play Smart, Strategic, Working"
"Leftists Make Desperate Attempt to Discredit Photo of Abrego Garcia's MS-13 Tattoos. Here Are Receipts"
"Trump Administration Freezes $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses to Meet Demands"on After Harvard Refuses to Meet Demands
"Doctors Committing Insurance Fraud to Conceal Trans Procedures, Texas Children’s Whistleblower Testifies"
"Left Using '8647' Symbol for Violence Against Trump, Musk"
KawasakiÂ’s new rideable robohorse is straight out of a sci-fi novel
"Trade should work for America, not rule it"
"The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Race – What’s at Risk for the GOP"
"How Trump caught big-government fans in their own trap"
‘Are You Prepared for Violence?’
Greek Orthodox Archbishop gives President Trump a Cross, tells him "Make America Invincible"
"Trump signs executive order eliminating the Department of Education!!!"
"If AOC Is the Democratic Future, the Party Is Even Worse Off Than We Think"
"Ending EPA Overreach"
Closest Look Ever at How Pyramids Were Built
Moment the SpaceX crew Meets Stranded ISS Crew
The Exodus Pharaoh EXPLAINED!
Did the Israelites Really Cross the Red Sea? Stunning Evidence of the Location of Red Sea Crossing!
Are we experiencing a Triumph of Orthodoxy?
Judge Napolitano with Konstantin Malofeev (Moscow, Russia)
"Trump Administration Cancels Most USAID Programs, Folds Others into State Department"
Introducing Manus: The General AI Agent
"Chinese Spies in Our Military? Straight to Jail"
Any suggestion that the USA and NATO are "Helping" or have ever helped Ukraine needs to be shot down instantly
"Real problem with the Palestinians: Nobody wants them"
ACDC & The Rolling Stones - Rock Me Baby
Magnus Carlsen gives a London System lesson!
"The Democrats Are Suffering Through a Drought of Generational Talent"
7 Tactics Of The Enemy To Weaken Your Faith
Strange And Biblical Events Are Happening
Every year ... BusiesT casino gambling day -- in Las Vegas
Trump’s DOGE Plan Is Legally Untouchable—Elon Musk Holds the Scalpel
Palestinians: What do you think of the Trump plan for Gaza?
What Happens Inside Gaza’s Secret Tunnels? | Unpacked
Hamas Torture Bodycam Footage: "These Monsters Filmed it All" | IDF Warfighter Doron Keidar, Ep. 225
EXPOSED: The Dark Truth About the Hostages in Gaza
New Task Force Ready To Expose Dark Secrets
Egypt Amasses Forces on Israel’s Southern Border | World War 3 About to Start?
"Trump wants to dismantle the Education Department. Here’s how it would work"
test
"Federal Workers Concerned That Returning To Office Will Interfere With Them Not Working"
"Yes, the Democrats Have a Governing Problem – They Blame America First, Then Govern Accordingly"
"Trump and His New Frenemies, Abroad and at Home"
"The Left’s Sin Is of Omission and Lost Opportunity"
"How Trump’s team will break down the woke bureaucracy"
Pete Hegseth will be confirmed in a few minutes
"Greg Gutfeld Cooks Jessica Tarlov and Liberal Media in Brilliant Take on Trump's First Day"
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Historical
See other Historical Articles Title: Socrates as the “gadfly” of the state (4thC BC)
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://files.libertyfund.org/pll/quotes/341.html
Published: Jan 25, 2015
Author: Socrates
Post Date: 2015-01-25 11:01:24 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 1411
Comments: 2
Plato in his Apology for the life of Socrates reminds us that all societies need a “gadfly” to sting the “steed” of state into acknowledging its proper duties and obligations: I am the gadfly of the Athenian people, given to them by God, and they will never have another, if they kill me. And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God by condemning me, who am his gift to you. For if you kill me you will not easily find a successor to me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by God; and the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long 1and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. You will not easily find another like me, and therefore I would advise you to spare me. The full passage from which this quotation was taken can be be viewed below (front page quote in bold): Men of Athens, do not interrupt, but hear me; there was an understanding between us that you should hear me to the end: I have something more to say, at which you may be inclined to cry out; but I believe that to hear me will be good for you, and therefore I beg that you will not cry out. I would have you know, that if you kill such an one as I am, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me. Nothing will injure me, not Meletus nor yet Anytus—they cannot, for a bad man is not permitted to injure a better than himself. I do not deny that Anytus may, perhaps, kill him, or drive him into exile, or deprive him of civil rights; and he may imagine, and others may imagine, that he is inflicting a great injury upon him: but there I do not agree. For the evil of doing as he is doing—the evil of unjustly taking away the life of another—is greater far. I am the gadfly of the Athenian people, given to them by God, and they will never have another, if they kill me. And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God by condemning me, who am his gift to you. For if you kill me you will not easily find a successor to me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by God; and the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long 1and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. You will not easily find another like me, and therefore I would advise you to spare me. I dare say that you may feel out of temper (like a person who is suddenly awakened from sleep), and you think that you might easily strike me dead as Anytus advises, and then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless God in his care of you sent you another gadfly. When I say that I am given to you by God, the proof of my mission is this:—if I had been like other men, I should not have neglected all my own concerns or patiently seen the neglect of them during all these years, and have been doing yours, coming to you individually like a father or elder brother, exhorting you to regard virtue; such conduct, I say, would be unlike human nature. If I had gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid, there would have been some sense in my doing so; but now, as you will perceive, not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of any one; of that they have no witness. And I have a sufficient witness to the truth of what I say—my poverty.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
Replies to Comment # 1.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
|
