"Philosophers ... have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession philosophy is, and have also seen and been satisfied of the madness of the multitude, and known that there is no one who ever acts honestly in the administration of States, nor any helper who will save any one who maintains the cause of the just. Such a savior would be like a man who has fallen among wild beasts—unable to join in the wickedness of his fellows, neither would he be able alone to resist all their fierce natures, and therefore he would be of no use to the State or to his friends, and would have to throw away his life before he had done any good to himself or others. And he reflects upon all this, and holds his peace, and does his own business. He is like one who retires under the shelter of a wall in the storm of dust and sleet which the driving wind hurries along; and when he sees the rest of mankind full of wickedness, he is content if only he can live his own life and be pure from evil or unrighteousness, and depart in peace and good will, with bright hopes."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Plato, The Republic, 496d
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Refusal
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Those who take money are bound to carry out the work for which they get a fee, while I, because I refuse to take it, …"
"REFUSAL, n. Denial of something desired; as an elderly maiden's hand in marriage, to a rich and handsome suitor; a va…"
"Every day I add to the list of things I refuse to discuss. The wiser the man, the longer the list."
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!"
"The poor were wise, who, by the rich oppressed,"
"We refuse to have our conscience bound by any work or law. ... Our stubbornness is right, because we want to preserve…"
"Whether ritualized or not, art contains the rationality of negation. In its advanced positions, it is the Great Refus…"
"For La Boétie as for Machiavelli, authority can only be grounded on acceptance by the subjects: except that the one t…"
"In the year of Christ 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, on the last day of February, anniversary of his birth, Michel…"
"We are responsible to ourselves for our own existence; consequently we want to be the true helmsmen of this existence…"