o would shake himself loose from them,
requires great force of mind; he hardly knows where to begin in the
search after truth. On every side he is met by the world, which is not
an abstraction of theologians, but the most real of all things, being
another name for ourselves when regarded collectively and subjected to
the influences of society.

Then comes Socrates, impressed as no other man ever was, with the
unreality and untruthfulness of popular opinion, and tells mankind that
they must be and not seem. How are they to be? At any rate they must
have the spirit and desire to be. If they are ignorant, they must
acknowledge their ignorance to themselves; if they are conscious of
doing evil, they must learn to do well; if they are weak, and have
nothing in them which they can call themselves, they must acquire
firmness and consistency; if they are indifferent, they must begin to
take an interest in the great questions which surround them. They must
try to be what they would fain appear in the eyes of their fellow-men.
A single individual cannot easily change public opinion; but he can be
true and innocent, simple and independent; he can know what he does, and
what he does not know; and though not without an effort, he can form
a judgment of his own, at least in common matters. In his most secret
actions he can show the same high principle (compare Republic) which he
shows when supported and watched by public opinion. And on some fitting
occasion, on some question of humanity or truth or right, even an
ordinary man, from the natural rectitude of his disposition, may be
found to take up arms against a whole tribe of politicians and lawyers,
and be too much for them.

Who is the true and who the false statesman?--

The true statesman is he who brings order out of disorder; who first
organizes and then administers the government of his own country; and
having made a nation, seeks to reconcile the national interests with
those of Europe and of mankind. He is not a mere theorist, nor yet a
dealer in expedients; the whole and the parts grow together in his mind;
while the head is conceiving, the hand is executing. Although obliged to
descend to the world, he is not of the world. His thoughts are fixed not
on power or riches or extension of territory, but on an ideal state, in
which all the citizens have an equal chance of health and life, and
the highest education is within the reach of all, and the moral and
intellectual qu