republic (books 1 - 5)   

service of the living and the dead; the latter sort they call mys-
teries, and they redeem us from the pains of hell, but if we
neglect them no one knows what awaits us.

He proceeded: And now when the young hear all this said
about virtue and vice, and the way in which gods and men re-
gard them, how are their minds likely to be affected, my dear
Socrates--those of them, I mean, who are quick-witted, and,
like bees on the wing, light on every flower, and from all that
they hear are prone to draw conclusions as to what manner of
persons they should be and in what way they should walk if
they would make the best of life? Probably the youth will say
to himself in the words of Pindar:

"Can I by justice or by crooked ways of deceit ascend a loftier tower
which may be a fortress to me all my days?"

For what men say is that, if I am really just and am not also
thought just, profit there is none, but the pain and loss on the
other hand are unmistakable. But if, though unjust, I acquire
the reputation of justice, a heavenly life is promised to me.
Since then, as philosophers prove, appearance tyrannizes over
truth and is lord of happiness, to appearance I must devote
myself. I will describe around me a picture and shadow of
virtue to be the vestibule and exterior of my house; behind I
will trail the subtle and crafty fox, as Archilochus, greatest of
sages, recommends. But I hear someone exclaiming that the
concealment of wickedness is often difficult; to which I answer,
Nothing great is easy. Nevertheless, the argument indicates
this, if we would be happy, to be the path along which we
should proceed. With a view to concealment we will establish
secret brotherhoods and political clubs. And there are profes-
sors of rhetoric who teach the art of persuading courts and
assemblies; and so, partly by persuasion and partly by force,
I shall make unlawful gains and not be punished. Still I hear
a voice saying that the gods cannot be deceived, neither can
they be compelled. But what if there are no gods? or, suppose
them to have no care of human things--why in either case
should we mind about concealment? And even if there are
gods, and they do care about us, yet we know of them only
from tradition and the genealogies of the poets; and these are
the very persons who say that they may be influenced and
turned by "sacrifices and soothing entreaties and by offerings."
Let us be consistent, then, and believe both or neither. If the
poets speak truly, why, then, we had better be unjust, and offer
of the fruits of injustice; for if we are just, although we may
escape the vengeance of heaven, we shall lose the gains of in-
justice; but, if we are unjust, we shall keep the gains, and by
our sinning and praying, and praying and sinning, the gods
will be propitiated, and we shall not be punished. "But there
is a world below in which either we or our posterity will suffer
for our unjust deeds." Yes, my friend, will be the reflection,
but there are mysteries and atoning deities, and these have
great power. That is what mighty cities declare; and the chil-
dren of the gods, who were their poets and prophets, bear a like
testimony.

On what principle, then, shall we any longer choose justice
rather than the worst injustice? when, if we only unite the lat-
ter with a deceitful regard to appearances, we shall fare to our
mind both with gods and men, in life and after death, as the
most numerous and the highest authorities tell us. Knowing
all this, Socrates, how can a man who has any superiority of
mind or person or rank or wealth, be willing to honor justice;