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Mary Renault Book Discussion
injest:
"Justice? If the gods give a man wisdom, or forethought, or skill must he be brought down as if he had got them by theft? We shall be laming the best athletes soon, at the demand of the worst, in the name of justice. Or some citizen with pockmarks and a squint will lay a complaint against such a boy as this" (here he pointed suddenly at me) "and his nose will be broken I suppose, for justice's sake."
"The Last of the Wine"
Mary Renault
injest:
"Men are not born equal in themselves," he saidto me after, "so I think it beneath a man to postulate that they are. If I thought myself as good as Sokrates I should be a fool; and if, not really believing it, I asked you to make me happy by assuring me of it, you would rightly despise me. So why should I insult my fellow citizens by treating them as fools and cowards? A man that thinks himself as good as everyone else will be at no pains to grow better. On the other hand, I might think myself as good as Sokrates, and even persuade other fools to agree with me; but under a democracy, Sokrates is there in the Agora to prove me wrong. I want a City where I can find my equals and respect my betters, whoever they are; and where no one can tell me to swallow a lie because it is expedient, or some other man's will."
"The Last of the Wine"
Mary Renault
injest:
I could see him waiting for me to cease, to say what he had ready to say, exactly as if I had not spoken. I had felt easy with him, liking the way he treated every man as an equal; but it is strange to speak with someone one's thoughts do not reach. Of a sudden it was as if a great desert surrounded me; I even felt the fear of Pan, driver of the herds, as one does in lonely places.
"The Last of the Wine"
Mary Renault
Kerry:
--- Quote from: injest on March 31, 2009, 11:25:44 pm ---"Justice? If the gods give a man wisdom, or forethought, or skill must he be brought down as if he had got them by theft? We shall be laming the best athletes soon, at the demand of the worst, in the name of justice. Or some citizen with pockmarks and a squint will lay a complaint against such a boy as this" (here he pointed suddenly at me) "and his nose will be broken I suppose, for justice's sake."
"The Last of the Wine"
Mary Renault
--- End quote ---
Gasp! The perils of political correctness. Very forward thinking, our Mary (in an ancient Greek kinda way)! ;) :D
Kerry:
--- Quote from: injest on April 01, 2009, 12:36:42 am ---"Men are not born equal in themselves," he saidto me after, "so I think it beneath a man to postulate that they are. If I thought myself as good as Sokrates I should be a fool; and if, not really believing it, I asked you to make me happy by assuring me of it, you would rightly despise me. So why should I insult my fellow citizens by treating them as fools and cowards? A man that thinks himself as good as everyone else will be at no pains to grow better. On the other hand, I might think myself as good as Sokrates, and even persuade other fools to agree with me; but under a democracy, Sokrates is there in the Agora to prove me wrong. I want a City where I can find my equals and respect my betters, whoever they are; and where no one can tell me to swallow a lie because it is expedient, or some other man's will."
"The Last of the Wine"
Mary Renault
--- End quote ---
There be wisdom here!
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