Men Would Say, Up He Went and Down He Came Without His Eyes
Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death. […]
Virtuous Rulers Administer Blessing Not Private Advantage
Yes, my friend, I said; and there lies the point. You must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and gold, […]
Plato – The Enlightened Must Descend to the Prisoners
I mean that they remain in the upper world: but this must not be allowed; they must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the den, and partake of their labours and honours, whether they are worth having or not. Plato, Allegory of the Cave
Plato – From the World of Becoming into That of Being – The Cave
Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into […]
Plato – Allegory of the Cave: The Republic Book VII
BOOK VII. And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: Behold! human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks […]
The Soul in Three The White Horse, Black Horse, Charioteer
Now when the charioteer beholds the vision of love …. and has his whole soul warmed through sense – Plato, Phaedrus