[412e]
for the
interest of the state, and who would be least likely to consent to do the
opposite.” “That would be a suitable choice,”
he said. “I think, then, we shall have to observe them at every
period of life, to see if they are conservators and guardians of this
conviction in their minds and never by sorcery nor by force can be brought
to expel1 from their souls
unawares this conviction that they must do what is best for the
state.” “What do you mean by the 'expelling'?”
he said. “I will tell you, said I; “it seems to me that
the exit of a belief from the mind is either voluntary or involuntary.
1 Cf. Crito 46 B, Xenophon Memorabilia iii. 12. 7.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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