symposium   

house to dwell in; on the bare earth exposed he lies under the open

heaven, in-the streets, or at the doors of houses, taking his rest;

and like his mother he is always in distress. Like his father too,

whom he also partly resembles, he is always plotting against the

fair and good; he is bold, enterprising, strong, a mighty hunter,

always weaving some intrigue or other, keen in the pursuit of

wisdom, fertile in resources; a philosopher at all times, terrible

as an enchanter, sorcerer, sophist. He is by nature neither mortal nor

immortal, but alive and flourishing at one moment when he is in

plenty, and dead at another moment, and again alive by reason of his

father's nature. But that which is always flowing in is always flowing

out, and so he is never in want and never in wealth; and, further,

he is in a mean between ignorance and knowledge. The truth of the

matter is this: No god is a philosopher. or seeker after wisdom, for

he is wise already; nor does any man who is wise seek after wisdom.

Neither do the ignorant seek after Wisdom. For herein is the evil of

ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless

satisfied with himself: he has no desire for that of which he feels no

want." "But-who then, Diotima," I said, "are the lovers of wisdom,

if they are neither the wise nor the foolish?" "A child may answer

that question," she replied; "they are those who are in a mean between

the two; Love is one of them. For wisdom is a most beautiful thing,

and Love is of the beautiful; and therefore Love is also a

philosopher: or lover of wisdom, and being a lover of wisdom is in a

mean between the wise and the ignorant. And of this too his birth is

the cause; for his father is wealthy and wise, and his mother poor and

foolish. Such, my dear Socrates, is the nature of the spirit Love. The

error in your conception of him was very natural, and as I imagine

from what you say, has arisen out of a confusion of love and the

beloved, which made you think that love was all beautiful. For the

beloved is the truly beautiful, and delicate, and perfect, and

blessed; but the principle of love is of another nature, and is such