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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: harp in private who carries off the palm of victory in public.
Charm. But do you not see that modesty and timidity are feelings
implanted in man's nature? and these are much more powerfully present
to us in a crowd than within the cirlce of our intimates.
Soc. Yes, but what I am bent on teaching you is that while you feel no
such bashfulness and timidity before the wisest and strongest of men,
you are ashamed of opening your lips in the midst of weaklings and
dullards.[6] Is it the fullers among them of whom you stand in awe, or
the cobblers, or the carpenters, or the coppersmiths, or the
merchants, or the farmers, or the hucksters of the market-place
exchanging their wares, and bethinking them how they are to buy this
The Memorabilia |
