Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27
SOCRATES.
Copyright. 19l6.i
BY DIR, FRANK CRANE.

of all the souls that ever dwelt with
human bodies. among all the billions
| that in the stretch of time have appear
ed on earth, not one. with the excep-
ton of Jesus, was greater thar
Socrates.
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. 1 use the
| word "successfur' carefully.
Read all you can about him. Read
Plato, and xenophon. who report him.
You do not need to know Greek. though
that helps; there are good English
| TRANSACTIONS. If they do not interest
you the first time, read them twice
| thrice. twenty 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 ard Leonardo He was
the incarnation of inhumanity.
He never held Office tbut once, a
| minor one, temporarily. He did not
seek preferment. or riches, or luxury,
or Getting 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 per-
sistent .delusion of ignorant sincerity
So he did not resist evil, and thought
| he could do more good by dying be-
t.OntendiuR
He, too, was soldier of the cross. The
loftiest souls have ever known that
while the Sword triuniphs for an hour
| the Cross triumphs through the cen
| turtles.
Like Jesus he constructed no system
| of thought; founded no cult, formed nc
organization, no institution. These
came after him.
Life is strange. complex, contradic-
tory, fluid You cannot box it into a
| creed. He was like life. He walk ed
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 Socrates was one long converse
ton, as Mohammed's was one long
harangue."
Yet he belonged TO narrow circle
though it be open to all corners. the
| circle OF the enlightened. Down
| through the years the ancestral clan OF
the enlightened has been the smallest
organization on the planet
He was dangerous. as all enlighten-
ment is dangerous. THE absurdest su-
perstitions may house the sturdiest
ethics. and the destruction of the
former is too likely for a time to turn
the latter 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 inteIli-
gence. as opposed to that history which
| is but "a record of human vanities and
insanities war
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 TEN
Derate is to know how to use what is
good
He was not Hebrew. and hence did
not teach that 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 sciences: rather, knowl-
edge OF ones self and of moral values
A great life is impossible without great
and truthful thought as it's foundation
IL is nctitious grandeur that rests on
non-facts or hocus-pocus no m.tter
how devotedly believed.
The virtue Greek, arete) Socrates
| urged meant not the negative thing
often implied by our word goodness.
~ meant efficiency. Tuechtigkeit; but
not ef1ciency in killing BeIgians or
building steel plants. but efficiency in
perfectng depression for the in
| dividuai and full opportunity and
equity for alfcitizens
Xenophon says his formula of nr,y.r
was: Give me that which is best for
| me: There can be no better.
| Socrates is not obsolete .'rbe tbipos
ne deemed good. we deem good; the
righteousness he fulfilled is the same
| we seek to fulfill He is the 1rst in
carnation in Europe OF the moral Ia w ),
| You can judge any man pretty wei,
by what he thinks of and how much he
| knows about Socrates. "e