[485c]
must
not have this further quality in their natures.” “What
quality?” “The spirit of truthfulness, reluctance to
admit falsehood in any form, the hatred of it and the love of
truth.” “It is likely,” he said. “It
is not only likely, my friend, but there is every necessity1
that he who is by nature enamored of anything should cherish all that is
akin and pertaining to the object of his love.”
“Right,” he said. “Could you find anything
more akin to wisdom than truth2?” “Impossible,” he said.
“Then can the same nature be a lover of wisdom and of
falsehood?”
1 For similar expressions cf. 519 B, Laws 656 B, 965 C, Symp. 200 A.
2 This and many other passages prove Plato's high regard for the truth. Cf Laws 730 C, 861 D, Crat. 428 D, 382 A. In 389 B he only permits falsehood to the rulers as a drastic remedy to be used with care for edification. Cf. Vol. I. on 382 C and D.
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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