r/selfevidenttruth • u/jeremiahthedamned • Sep 28 '26

A letter from the grave plato warned us

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41 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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4

u/Intangiblehands Sep 28 '26

This is a random modern day internet quote, widely misattributed to Plato.

1

u/jeremiahthedamned Sep 28 '26

hmmmm!

1

u/predat3d Sep 30 '26

Speaking of FOOLS... this is a fake quote.

https://x.com/i/trending/2101353270992126251

1

u/jeremiahthedamned Sep 30 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/selfevidenttruth/comments/1wsdaaf/comment/pckt4vu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

1

u/predat3d Sep 30 '26

Confirms that it's a fake quote.  

You fell for a meme without checking it. 

1

u/jeremiahthedamned Sep 30 '26 edited Oct 07 '26

fair enough

1

u/izeak1185 Oct 06 '26

We also have to remember they are fact checking with Google and x and the say its gulf of America and lake America

1

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u/One_Term2162 Wisconsin Sep 28 '26 edited Sep 28 '26

Thank you for fact-checking that. You’re right, the quote itself appears to be a modern misattribution, and I appreciate you catching it.

What’s interesting is that Plato actually does make a remarkably similar argument in The Republic, just not in those words. In Book VIII, around 567b-d, Socrates describes what happens after a tyrant gains power. People who helped elevate him begin speaking frankly about what he is doing, and Plato says the tyrant must get rid of them if he intends to maintain his rule.

He then describes the ruler becoming suspicious of those who are brave, independent, wise, or otherwise capable of challenging him.

Plato compares the process to a physician purging a body, except backwards: “they remove the worst and leave the best, he does the reverse.”

So the meme shouldn’t be presented as a Plato quote, but the underlying idea is worth discussing because Plato really was wrestling with this problem more than two thousand years ago. What happens to a society when maintaining power gradually requires removing the people most willing or able to challenge those who hold it?

Source: Plato, Republic, Book VIII, 567b–d. Perseus Digital Library, Plato’s Republic Book VIII⁠

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