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Three Millennia of Greek Literature
 

Plato Bilingual Anthology : WISDOM

from the 7th Epistle, * 341b-345a, translated by B. Jowett

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Page 8

Therefore every man of worth, when dealing with matters of worth, will be far from exposing them to ill feeling and misunderstanding among men by committing them to writing. In one word, then, it may be known from this that, if one sees written treatises composed by anyone, either the laws of a lawgiver, or in any other form whatever, these are not for that man the things of most worth, if he is a man of worth, but that his treasures are laid up in the fairest spot that he possesses. But if these things were worked at by him as things of real worth, and committed to writing, then surely, not gods, but men "have themselves bereft him of his wits."

διὸ δὴ πᾶς ἀνὴρ σπουδαῖος τῶν ὄντων σπουδαίων πέρι πολλοῦ δεῖ μὴ γράψας ποτὲ ἐν ἀνθρώποις εἰς φθόνον καὶ ἀπορίαν καταβαλεῖ. ἑνὶ δὴ ἐκ τούτων δεῖ γιγνώσκειν λόγῳ͵ ὅταν ἴδῃ τίς του συγγράμματα γεγραμμένα εἴτε ἐν νόμοις νομοθέτου εἴτε ἐν ἄλλοις τισὶν ἅττ΄ οὖν͵ ὡς οὐκ ἦν τούτῳ ταῦτα σπουδαιότατα͵ εἴπερ ἔστ΄ αὐτὸς σπουδαῖος͵ κεῖται δέ που ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ καλλίστῃ τῶν τούτου· εἰ δὲ ὄντως αὐτῷ ταῦτ΄ ἐσπουδασμένα ἐν γράμμασιν ἐτέθη͵ ἐξ ἄρα δή τοι ἔπειτα͵ θεοὶ μὲν οὔ͵ βροτοὶ δὲ φρένας ὤλεσαν αὐτοί.
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Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-Greece/plato-wisdom.asp?pg=8