is, that
our guardians may or may not be the happiest of men,--I should not be
surprised to find in the long-run that they were,--but this is not the
aim of our constitution, which was designed for the good of the whole
and not of any one part. If I went to a sculptor and blamed him for
having painted the eye, which is the noblest feature of the face, not
purple but black, he would reply: 'The eye must be an eye, and you
should look at the statue as a whole.' 'Now I can well imagine a fool's
paradise, in which everybody is eating and drinking, clothed in purple
and fine linen, and potters lie on sofas and have their wheel at hand,
that they may work a little when they please; and cobblers and all the
other classes of a State lose their distinctive character. And a State
may get on without cobblers; but when the guardians degenerate into boon
companions, then the ruin is complete. Remember that we are not talking
of peasants keeping holiday, but of a State in which every man is
expected to do his own work. The happiness resides not in this or that
class, but in the State as a whole. I have another remark to make:--A
middle condition is best for artisans; they should have money enough to
buy tools, and not enough to be independent of business. And will not
the same condition be best for our citizens? If they are poor, they will
be mean; if rich, luxurious and lazy; and in neither case contented.
'But then how will our poor city be able to go to war against an enemy
who has money?' There may be a difficulty in fighting against one enemy;
against two there will be none. In the first place, the contest will be
carried on by trained warriors against well-to-do citizens: and is not a
regular athlete an easy match for two stout opponents at least? Suppose
also, that before engaging we send ambassadors to one of the two cities,
saying, 'Silver and gold we have not; do you help us and take our share
of the spoil;'--who would fight against the lean, wiry dogs, when they
might join with them in preying upon the fatted sheep? 'But if many
states join their resources, shall we not be in danger?' I am amused
to hear you use the word 'state' of any but our own State. They are
'states,' but not 'a state'--many in one. For in every state there are
two hostile nations, rich and poor, which you may set one against the
other. But our State, while she remains true to her principles, will be
in very deed the mightiest of Hellenic states.

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