The Detroit times., 1915-12-18
SOCRATES
BY DR.. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1916, by Frank Crane)


ed on earth, not one, with the excep-
tieH of Jesus, was greater than Soc
rates.
There is, therefore, o youth, no man
you should more study to know. The
more you make him your familiar the
more successful you will be. l use the
word successful" carefully.
Read all you can about MIN. Read
Plato and Xenophon who report him.
You do not need to know Greek, though
that helps; there are good English
tranSlations. If they do not interest you
the first time, read them twice. thrice,
20 times till you come up with them
Here are some facts about him which
it is hoped will pique your curiosity.
He was born of the common people,
like Lincoln and Leonardo. He was the
incarnation of humanity.
He never held office (but once, minor
one, temporarily He did not seek pre-
ferment, or riches, or luxury, or Get
ting On. He was independently poor
Not caring for the worlds gifts, he could
not be bribed.
He was without fear, especially the
worst fear of all the fear to do right.
Like Jesus. he utterly trusted the
higher laws of the universe, and hence
refused to take any hand in establish
ing righteousness by force" the persist
ent delusion sof ignorant sincerity.
SO he did not resist evil, and thought
he could do more good by dying beneath
it than by contending against it, He,
too. was a soldier of the cross The
/ loftiest souls have even known that
while the Sword triumphs for an hour,
the Cross triumphs through the CEN
! turies.
| Like Jesus. he constructed no system
of thought, founded no cult, formed no
! organization. no institution. These came
after him.
Life is strange, complex, contradic-
| tory, fluid. You cannot box il into
creed. He was like life. He walked and
! talked, with the great and the small,
with philosophers, harness-makers. rich
men, beggars. the refined and cultured,
and the prostitutes "The life of So
crates was one long conversation, as Mo-
! hammed'S was one long harangue."
Yet he belonged TO narrow circle.
/ though it be open 70 all comers, the cir
Gle of the enlightened. down through
/ the years the ancestral clan of the en-
! lightened has been the smallest organ
ization on the planet
He was dangerous, as all enlighten-
ment is dangerous. The abSurdest
SuperstitionS may house the sturdiest
ethics, and the destruction of the former
is too likely for time to turn the lat
/ ter out Of doors"
He is one of the chief figures, if not
/ the chief figure, in the real history Of
! the race. which is the history Of in
! telligence. as opposed to that history
which is but "a record of human vanities
and insanties es"-war
He called himself a midwife" be-
cause he went about TO deliver people
of their own ideas. He did not impart
information, he made others think for
themselves.
He defined virtue as knowledge ITO
be just is to know what is due men. to
be courageous is to know what is to be
feared and what is not; to be temperate
is to know how to use what is good"
He was not Hebrew, and hence did not
/ teacn tnat character is perfected by
struggle; he was Greek, and held that
character comes from the finely poised
soul.
knowledge to him was the essential.
But not knowledge of mathematics. or
languages or science; rather. knowledge
of ones self and Of moral values. A
great life is impossible without great and
truthful thought as its foundation. II is
a fictitious grandeur that rests on non
facts or hOcus-pocus, no matter how de-
votedly believed.
The virtue Greek, arcte) Socrates
urged meant not the negative thing often
implied by our word goodness" il meant
efficiency, Tuechtigkeit; but not eff
cheney in killing Belgians or building
steel plants, but efficiency in perfectng
self-expression for the individual. and
full opportunity and equity for an citi-
ZenS.
Xenophon says his formula Of prayer
was, Give me that which is best for
me-" There can be no better.
Socrates is not obsolete. "The things
he deemed good, we deem good: the
r;ub ubtaottcpaec ba fuIGIIad ;e tbo .ox..