euthydemus   

to tell a lie?
Yes, said Ctesippus; I should be mad to say anything else.
And in telling a lie, do you tell the thing of which you speak or not?
You tell the thing of which you speak.
And he who tells, tells that thing which he tells, and no other?
Yes, said Ctesippus.
And that is a distinct thing apart from other things?
Certainly.
And he who says that thing says that which is?
Yes.
And he who says that which is, says the truth. And therefore
Dionysodorus, if he says that which is, says the truth of you and no
lie.
Yes, Euthydemus, said Ctesippus; but in saying this, he says what is
not.
Euthydemus answered: And that which is not is not?
True.
And that which is not is nowhere?
Nowhere.
And can any one do anything about that which has no existence, or do
to Cleinias that which is not and is nowhere?
I think not, said Ctesippus.
Well, but do rhetoricians, when they speak in the assembly, do
nothing?
Nay, he said, they do something.
And doing is making?
Yes.
And speaking is doing and making?
He agreed.
Then no one says that which is not, for in saying what is not he would
be doing something; and you have already acknowledged that no one can
do what is not. And therefore, upon your own showing, no one says what
is false; but if Dionysodorus says anything, he says what is true and
what is.
Yes, Euthydemus, said Ctesippus; but he speaks of things in a certain
way and manner, and not as they really are.
Why, Ctesippus, said Dionysodorus, do you mean to say that any one
speaks of things as they are?
Yes, he said-all gentlemen and truth-speaking persons.
And are not good things good, and evil things evil?
He assented.
And you say that gentlemen speak of things as they are?
Yes.
Then the good speak evil of evil things, if they speak of them as they
are?
Yes, indeed, he said; and they speak evil of evil men. And if I may
give you a piece of advice, you had better take care that they do not
speak evil of you, since I can tell you that the good speak evil of
the evil.
And do they speak great things of the great, rejoined Euthydemus, and
warm things of the warm?
To be sure they do, said Ctesippus; and they speak coldly of the
insipid and cold dialectician.
You are abusive, Ctesippus, said Dionysodorus, you are abusive!
Indeed, I am not, Dionysodorus, he replied; for I love you and am
giving you friendly advice, and, if I could, would persuade you not
like a boor to say in my presence that I desire my beloved, whom I
value above all men, to perish.
I saw that they were getting exasperated with one another, so I made a
joke with him and said: O Ctesippus, I think that we must allow the
strangers to use language in their own way, and not quarrel with them
about words, but be thankful for what they give us. If they know how
to destroy men in such a way as to make good and sensible men out of
bad and foolish ones-whether this is a discovery of their own, or