man to have assaulted a strong
and cowardly one, and to have robbed him of his coat or of something or
other; he is brought into court, and then Tisias says that both parties
should tell lies: the coward should say that he was assaulted by more
men than one; the other should prove that they were alone, and should
argue thus: 'How could a weak man like me have assaulted a strong man
like him?' The complainant will not like to confess his own cowardice,
and will therefore invent some other lie which his adversary will thus
gain an opportunity of refuting. And there are other devices of the same
kind which have a place in the system. Am I not right, Phaedrus?

PHAEDRUS: Certainly.

SOCRATES: Bless me, what a wonderfully mysterious art is this which
Tisias or some other gentleman, in whatever name or country he rejoices,
has discovered. Shall we say a word to him or not?

PHAEDRUS: What shall we say to him?

SOCRATES: Let us tell him that, before he appeared, you and I were
saying that the probability of which he speaks was engendered in the
minds of the many by the likeness of the truth, and we had just been
affirming that he who knew the truth would always know best how to
discover the resemblances of the truth. If he has anything else to say
about the art of speaking we should like to hear him; but if not, we
are satisfied with our own view, that unless a man estimates the various
characters of his hearers and is able to divide all things into classes
and to comprehend them under single ideas, he will never be a skilful
rhetorician even within the limits of human power. And this skill he
will not attain without a great deal of trouble, which a good man ought
to undergo, not for the sake of speaking and acting before men, but in
order that he may be able to say what is acceptable to God and always
to act acceptably to Him as far as in him lies; for there is a saying of
wiser men than ourselves, that a man of sense should not try to please
his fellow-servants (at least this should not be his first object)
but his good and noble masters; and therefore if the way is long and
circuitous, marvel not at this, for, where the end is great, there we
may take the longer road, but not for lesser ends such as yours. Truly,
the argument may say, Tisias, that if you do not mind going so far,
rhetoric has a fair beginning here.

PHAEDRUS: I think, Socrates, that this is admirable, if only
practicable.

SOCRATES: But even to fail