But still I acknowledge
that I am perplexed when I hear the voices of Thrasymachus
and myriads of others dinning in my ears; and, on the other hand,
I have never yet heard the superiority of justice to injustice
maintained by any one in a satisfactory way. I want to hear justice
praised in respect of itself; then I shall be satisfied, and you
are the person from whom I think that I am most likely to hear this;
and therefore I will praise the unjust life to the utmost of my power,
and my manner of speaking will indicate the manner in which I
desire to hear you too praising justice and censuring injustice.
Will you say whether you approve of my proposal?
Indeed I do; nor can I imagine any theme about which a man of sense
would oftener wish to converse.
I am delighted, he replied, to hear you say so, and shall begin
by speaking, as I proposed, of the nature and origin of justice.
GLAUCON
They say that to do injustice is, by nature, good; to suffer
injustice, evil; but that the evil is greater than the good.
And so when men have both done and suffered injustice and have had
experience of both, not being able to avoid the one and obtain
the other, they think that they had better agree among themselves
to have neither; hence there arise laws and mutual covenants;
and that which is ordained by law is termed by them lawful and just.
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