What Kind of Man Am I?

“And what kind of man am I? One of those who would be pleased to be refuted if I say anything untrue, and who would be pleased to refute anyone who says anything untrue; one who, however, wouldn’t be any less pleased to be refuted than to refute. For I count being refuted a greater good, insofar as it is greater good to be rid of the greatest evil from oneself than to rid someone else of it.”

-Socrates

Plato’s Gorgias
Roughly lines 458a-b

Socrates is infamous for being confusing, so with that in mind I italicized the crux of the argument. Tough pill to swallow sometimes, what Socrates is saying here- that it is better to be corrected than to correct others. This is not unlike what Jesus preached in Luke 6:41-42. Interesting connotations these days, especially for Americans…