[129a]
Alcibiades
Impossible.Socrates
Well, and is it an easy thing to know oneself, and was it a mere scamp who inscribed these words on the temple at Delphi; or is it a hard thing, and not a task for anybody?Alcibiades
I have often thought, Socrates, that it was for anybody; but often, too, that it was very hard.Socrates
But, Alcibiades, whether it is easy or not, here is the fact for us all the same: if we have that knowledge, we are like to know what pains to take over ourselves; but if we have it not, we never can.Alcibiades
That is so.
Impossible.Socrates
Well, and is it an easy thing to know oneself, and was it a mere scamp who inscribed these words on the temple at Delphi; or is it a hard thing, and not a task for anybody?Alcibiades
I have often thought, Socrates, that it was for anybody; but often, too, that it was very hard.Socrates
But, Alcibiades, whether it is easy or not, here is the fact for us all the same: if we have that knowledge, we are like to know what pains to take over ourselves; but if we have it not, we never can.Alcibiades
That is so.
