[343e]
the one gains much and
the other nothing. And so when each holds office, apart from any other loss
the just man must count on his own affairs1 falling into disorder through neglect,
while because of his justice makes no profit from the state, and thereto he
will displease his friends and his acquaintances by his unwillingness to
serve them unjustly. But to the unjust man all the opposite advantages
accrue. I mean, of course, the one I was just speaking of,
1 For the idea that the just ruler neglects his own business and gains no compensating “graft” cf. the story of Deioces in Herodotus i. 97, Democ. fr. 253 Diels, Laches 180 B, Isocrates xii. 145, Aristotle Pol. v. 8/ 15-20. For office as a means of helping friends and harming enemies cf. Meno 71 E, Lysias ix. 14, and the anecdote of Themistocles (Plutarch, Praecept. reipub. ger. 13) cited by Goodwin (Political Justice) in the form: “God forbid that I should sit upon a bench of justice where my friends found no more favour than my enemies.” Democr. (fr. 266 Diels) adds that the just ruler on laying down his office is exposed to the revenge of wrongdoers with whom he has dealt severely.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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