[428e]
“do
you suppose will be the more numerous in our city, the smiths or these true
guardians?” “The smiths, by far,” he said.
“And would not these rulers be the smallest of all the groups of
those who possess special knowledge and receive distinctive
appellations1?” “By far.”
“Then it is by virtue of its smallest class and minutest part of
itself, and the wisdom that resides therein, in the part which takes the
lead and rules, that a city established on principles of nature would be
wise as a whole. And as it appears
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