Alc. No, indeed.
Soc. Nor will he know what he is doing.
Alc. No, I agree.
Soc. And will not he who does not know make mistakes?
Alc. To be sure.
Soc. And when he makes mistakes, will he not do ill both in private and in public?
Alc. Of course.
Soc. And doing ill he will be wretched?
Alc. Yes, very.
Soc. And what of those for whom he is doing so?
Alc. They will be wretched also.
Soc. Then it is impossible to be happy if one is not temperate and good.
Alc. Impossible.
Soc. So it is the bad men who are wretched.
Alc. Yes, very.
Soc. And hence it is not he who has made himself rich that is relieved of wretchedness, but he who has made himself temperate.
Alc. Apparently.
Soc. So it is not walls or warships or arsenals that cities need, Alcibiades, if they are to be happy, nor numbers, nor size, without virtue.
Alc. No, indeed.
Soc. And if you are to manage the city’s affairs properly and honorably, you must impart virtue to the citizens.
Alc. Of course.
Soc. But could one possibly impart a thing that one had not?
Alc. How, indeed?
Soc. Then you or anyone else who is to be governor and curator, not merely of himself and his belongings in private, but of the state and its affairs, must first acquire virtue himself.
Alc. That is true.
Soc. Hence it is not licence or authority for doing what one pleases that you have to secure to yourself or the state, but justice and temperance.
Alc. Apparently.
Soc. For you and the state, if you act justly and temperately, will act so as to please God.
Alc. Naturally.
Soc. And, as we were saying in what went before, you will act with your eyes turned on what is divine and bright.
Alc. Apparently.
Soc. Well, and looking thereon you will behold and know both yourselves and your good.
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And so you will act aright and well?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Well now, if you act in this way, I am ready to warrant that you must be happy.
Alc. And I can rely on your warranty.
Soc. But if you act unjustly, with your eyes on the godless and dark, the probability is that your acts will resemble these through your ignorance of yourselves.
Alc. That is probable.