Synopsis
A Platonic dialogue pitting Socrates against rhetoricians, arguing that doing injustice harms the soul more than suffering it, and that flattery is not an art.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Public domainIt is better to suffer wrong than to do it, because injustice corrupts the wrongdoer's own soul more deeply than any external harm.
It subordinates power and persuasion to the health of the soul, insisting morality outranks worldly advantage.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Machiavelli, The Prince.
Reading note
Track the shifting opponents, each conceding less, as Socrates escalates from rhetoric to the foundations of the good life.
Best paired with
Machiavelli, The Prince