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Section 21

You surely knew Chaerephon. He was a friend of mine from youth, and a friend to your democratic multitude; he went into exile with you recently and returned with you. You know what kind of man Chaerephon was, how impetuous he was in whatever he undertook. Well, he once went to Delphi and dared to ask the oracle this question—now, as I say, please do not make a disturbance, gentlemen. He asked if there was anyone wiser than I. The Pythia replied that there was no one wiser. His brother here will testify to these things before you, since Chaerephon himself is dead. Now consider why I am telling you this. I am going to explain to you where the slander against me came from. When I heard this, I reasoned with myself as follows: "What does the god mean? What is his riddle? For I know very well that I am not wise, either greatly or slightly. What then does he mean by saying I am the wisest? Surely he is not lying; for it is not lawful for him to do so." For a long time I was at a loss as to what he meant. Then, with great reluctance, I turned to investigating the matter in this way: I went to one of the men who are reputed to be wise, thinking that there, if anywhere, I could refute the oracle and say to it, "This man is wiser than I, but you said I was." So I examined this man—I need not mention his name by name, but he was one of our politicians—and when I examined him and conversed with him, men of Athens, this was my experience: it seemed to me that this man seemed wise to many other people, and especially to himself, but he was not. Then I tried to show him that he thought himself wise, but was not. As a result, I became hateful to him and to many of those present. As I went away, I reasoned with myself: "I am wiser than this man. It is likely that neither of us knows anything noble and good, but he thinks he knows something when he does not, while I, since I do not know, do not think I know. I seem, then, to be slightly wiser than him in just this one small thing: that what I do not know, I do not think I know." After this, I went to another man, one of those reputed to be wiser than the first, and the exact same thing seemed to me to be true. And there I became hateful to him and to many others.