[122]
54. "It is this purity of soul, no doubt, that
explains that famous utterance which history attributes to Socrates and which his disciples in their
books often represent him as repeating: 'There
is some divine influence'—δαιμόνιον, he called it—
'which I always obey, though it never urges me on,
but often holds me back.' And it was the same
Socrates—and what better authority can we quote?
—who was consulted by Xenophon1 as to whether
he should join Cyrus. Socrates, after stating what
seemed to him the best thing to do, remarked:
' But my opinion is only that of a man. In matters
of doubt and perplexity I advise that Apollo's oracle
be consulted.' This oracle was always consulted by
the Athenians in regard to the more serious public
questions.
1 Cf. Xen. Anab. iii. 1. 4.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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