philebus   

Soc. A just and pious and good man is the friend of the gods; is

he not?

Pro. Certainly he is.

Soc. And the unjust and utterly bad man is the reverse?

Pro. True.

Soc. And all men, as we were saying just now, are always filled with

hopes?

Pro. Certainly.

Soc. And these hopes, as they are termed, are propositions which

exist in the minds of each of us?

Pro. Yes.

Soc. And the fancies of hope are also pictured in us; a man may

often have a vision of a heap of gold, and pleasures ensuing, and in

the picture there may be a likeness of himself mightily rejoicing over

his good fortune.

Pro. True.

Soc. And may we not say that the good, being friends of the gods,

have generally true pictures presented to them, and the bad false

pictures?

Pro. Certainly.

Soc. The bad, too, have pleasures painted in their fancy as well

as the good; but I presume that they are false pleasures.

Pro. They are.

Soc. The bad then commonly delight in false pleasures, and the

good in true pleasures?

Pro. Doubtless.

Soc. Then upon this view there are false pleasures in the souls of

men which are a ludicrous imitation of the true, and there are pains

of a similar character?

Pro. There are.

Soc. And did we not allow that a man who had an opinion at all had a

real opinion, but often about things which had no existence either