§4.443οἷον εἰ δέοι ἡμᾶς ἀνομολογεῖσθαι περί τε ἐκείνης τῆς πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ἐκείνῃ ὁμοίως πεφυκότος τε καὶ τεθραμμένου ἀνδρός, εἰ δοκεῖ ἂν παρακαταθήκην χρυσίου ἢ ἀργυρίου δεξάμενος ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀποστερῆσαι, τίνʼ ἂν οἴει οἰηθῆναι τοῦτον αὐτὸ δρᾶσαι μᾶλλον ἢ ὅσοι μὴ τοιοῦτοι; οὐδένʼ ἄν, ἔφη.
"For example, if we had to agree about that city and the man who by nature and training is similar to it, whether such a man, having accepted a deposit of gold or silver, would seem to embezzle it, who do you think would think that he would do this rather than those who are not of this kind?" "No one," he said.
οὐκοῦν καὶ ἱεροσυλιῶν καὶ κλοπῶν καὶ προδοσιῶν, ἢ ἰδίᾳ ἑταίρων ἢ δημοσίᾳ πόλεων, ἐκτὸς ἂν οὗτος εἴη; ἐκτός. καὶ μὴν οὐδʼ ὁπωστιοῦν γʼ ἂν ἄπιστος ἢ κατὰ ὅρκους ἢ κατὰ τὰς ἄλλας ὁμολογίας. πῶς γὰρ ἄν; μοιχεῖαί γε μὴν καὶ γονέων ἀμέλειαι καὶ θεῶν ἀθεραπευσίαι παντὶ ἄλλῳ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ τοιούτῳ προσήκουσι. παντὶ μέντοι, ἔφη.
"Would he not also be far removed from temple-robberies, thefts, and betrayals, either privately of companions or publicly of cities?" "Far removed." "And surely he would not in any way whatsoever be untrustworthy, either under oaths or other agreements." "For how could he be?" "And adultery, neglect of parents, and lack of service to the gods belong to anyone else rather than to such a man." "To anyone else indeed," he said.
οὐκοῦν τούτων πάντων αἴτιον ὅτι αὐτοῦ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἕκαστον τὰ αὑτοῦ πράττει ἀρχῆς τε πέρι καὶ τοῦ ἄρχεσθαι; τοῦτο μὲν οὖν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄλλο. ἔτι τι οὖν ἕτερον ζητεῖς δικαιοσύνην εἶναι ἢ ταύτην τὴν δύναμιν ἣ τοὺς τοιούτους ἄνδρας τε παρέχεται καὶ πόλεις; μὰ Δία, ἦ δʼ ὅς, οὐκ ἔγωγε. τέλεον ἄρα ἡμῖν τὸ ἐνύπνιον ἀποτετέλεσται, ὃ ἔφαμεν ὑποπτεῦσαι ὡς εὐθὺς ἀρχόμενοι τῆς πόλεως οἰκίζειν κατὰ θεόν τινα εἰς ἀρχήν τε καὶ τύπον τινὰ τῆς δικαιοσύνης κινδυνεύομεν ἐμβεβηκέναι. παντάπασιν μὲν οὖν. τὸ δέ γε ἦν ἄρα, ὦ Γλαύκων—διʼ ὃ καὶ ὠφελεῖ—εἴδωλόν τι τῆς δικαιοσύνης, τὸ τὸν μὲν σκυτοτομικὸν φύσει ὀρθῶς ἔχειν σκυτοτομεῖν καὶ ἄλλο μηδὲν πράττειν, τὸν δὲ τεκτονικὸν τεκταίνεσθαι, καὶ τἆλλα δὴ οὕτως. φαίνεται. τὸ δέ γε ἀληθές, τοιοῦτόν τι ἦν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἀλλʼ οὐ περὶ τὴν ἔξω πρᾶξιν τῶν αὑτοῦ, ἀλλὰ περὶ τὴν ἐντός, ὡς ἀληθῶς περὶ ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ, μὴ ἐάσαντα τἀλλότρια πράττειν ἕκαστον ἐν αὑτῷ μηδὲ πολυπραγμονεῖν πρὸς ἄλληλα τὰ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ γένη, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὄντι τὰ οἰκεῖα εὖ θέμενον καὶ ἄρξαντα αὐτὸν αὑτοῦ καὶ κοσμήσαντα καὶ φίλον γενόμενον ἑαυτῷ καὶ συναρμόσαντα τρία ὄντα, ὥσπερ ὅρους τρεῖς ἁρμονίας ἀτεχνῶς, νεάτης τε καὶ ὑπάτης καὶ μέσης, καὶ εἰ ἄλλα ἄττα μεταξὺ τυγχάνει ὄντα, πάντα ταῦτα συνδήσαντα καὶ παντάπασιν ἕνα γενόμενον ἐκ πολλῶν, σώφρονα καὶ ἡρμοσμένον, οὕτω δὴ πράττειν ἤδη, ἐάν τι πράττῃ ἢ περὶ χρημάτων κτῆσιν ἢ περὶ σώματος θεραπείαν ἢ καὶ πολιτικόν τι ἢ περὶ τὰ ἴδια συμβόλαια, ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ἡγούμενον καὶ ὀνομάζοντα δικαίαν μὲν καὶ καλὴν πρᾶξιν ἣ ἂν ταύτην τὴν ἕξιν σῴζῃ τε καὶ συναπεργάζηται, σοφίαν δὲ τὴν ἐπιστατοῦσαν ταύτῃ τῇ πράξει ἐπιστήμην, ἄδικον δὲ πρᾶξιν ἣ ἂν ἀεὶ ταύτην λύῃ, ἀμαθίαν δὲ τὴν ταύτῃ αὖ ἐπιστατοῦσαν δόξαν.
"Is not the cause of all these things that each of the parts within him does its own work regarding ruling and being ruled?" "Indeed this, and nothing else." "Do you then still seek justice to be anything else than this power which produces such men and cities?" "By Zeus," he said, "not I." "Then our dream is completely fulfilled, which we said we suspected that, right from the beginning of our founding of the city, by some god's guidance we had probably hit upon a beginning and some pattern of justice." "Entirely so." "And this, Glaucon—which is also why it was useful—was indeed a kind of image of justice, namely, that it is right for one who is by nature a shoemaker to make shoes and do nothing else, and for one who is a carpenter to do carpentry, and so on for the others." "So it appears." "And this was indeed, as it seems, justice in reality, yet not concerning the external action of one's own affairs, but concerning the internal action, truly concerning himself and his own, not allowing each part within him to do the work of another, nor the classes in his soul to meddle with one another, but setting his own affairs well in order in reality and ruling himself, organizing himself, becoming a friend to himself, and harmonizing the three parts, just like three terms of a harmony, literally, the highest, the lowest, and the middle notes, and if there happen to be any other intermediate parts, binding all these together and becoming entirely one from many, temperate and harmonized; and only then does he act, if he does anything, whether concerning the acquisition of wealth, or the care of the body, or some political affair, or private contracts, in all these actions believing and naming that action just and beautiful which preserves and helps to complete this condition, and wisdom the knowledge that oversees this action, but an unjust action that which always dissolves this condition, and ignorance the opinion that in turn oversees this."