[499b]
“For
this cause and foreseeing this, we then despite our fears1 declared under
compulsion of the truth2 that neither
city nor polity nor man either will ever be perfected until some chance
compels this uncorrupted remnant of philosophers, who now bear the stigma of
uselessness, to take charge of the state whether they wish it or not, and
constrains the citizens to obey them, or else until by some divine
inspiration3 a genuine passion for true philosophy takes
possession4
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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