[14]
It would indeed have been best, if only some distinguishing mark were borne by men of base nature,1 that we might punish them before any fellow-citizen has been injured by them. But since it is impossible to perceive who such men are before a victim has suffered at their hands, at any rate as soon as their character is recognized, it is the duty of all men to hate them and to regard them as enemies of all mankind.
1 So also Eur. Med. 516-519: “O Zeus, ah wherefore hast thou given to men
Plain signs for gold which is but counterfeit,
But no assay-mark nature-graven shows
On man's form, to discern the base withal.
”（Translation by Way in L.C.L.）
Isocrates. Isocrates with an English Translation in three volumes, by George Norlin, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1980.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
