Page - 1496 - in The Complete Plato

at every other:—that is one reason why a city will not be in earnest about such contests or any other good and honourable pursuit. But from an insatiable love of gold and silver, every man will stoop to any art or contrivance, seemly or unseemly, in the hope of becoming rich; and will make no objection to performing any action, holy, or unholy and utterly base, if only like a beast he have the power of eating and drinking all kinds of things, and procuring for himself in every sort of way the gratification of his lusts. Cleinias. True. Athenian. Let this, then, be deemed one of the causes which prevent states from pursuing in an efficient manner the art of war, or any other noble aim, but makes the orderly and temperate part of mankind into merchants, and captains of ships, and servants, and converts the valiant sort into thieves and burglars and robbers of temples, and violent, tyrannical persons; many of whom are not without ability, but they are unfortunate. Cleinias. What do you mean? Athenian. Must not they be truly unfortunate whose souls are compelled to pass through life always hungering? Cleinias. Then that is one cause, Stranger; but you spoke of another. Athenian. Thank you for reminding me. Cleinias. The insatiable life long love of wealth, as you were saying is one clause which absorbs mankind, and prevents them from rightly practising the arts of war:—Granted; and now tell me, what is the other? Athenian. Do you imagine that I delay because I am in a perplexity? Cleinias. No; but we think that you are too severe upon the money–loving temper, of which you seem in the present discussion to have a peculiar dislike. Athenian. That is a very fair rebuke, Cleinias; and I will now proceed to the second cause. Cleinias. Proceed. Athenian. I say that governments are a cause—democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, concerning which I have often spoken in the previous discourse; or rather governments they are not, for none of them exercises a voluntary rule over voluntary subjects; but they may be truly called states of discord, in which while the government is voluntary, the subjects always obey against their will, and have to be coerced; and the ruler fears the subject, and will not, if he can help, allow him to become either noble, or rich, or strong, or valiant, or warlike at all. These two are the chief causes of almost all evils, and of the 1496