[388e]
“You say most
truly,” he replied. “But that must not be, as our
reasoning but now showed us, in which we must put our trust until someone
convinces with a better reason.” “No, it must not
be.” “Again, they must not be prone to laughter.1 For ordinarily when one abandons himself to
violent laughter his condition provokes a violent reaction.2” “I think so,” he said.
“Then if anyone represents men of worth as overpowered
1 The ancients generally thought violent laughter undignified. Cf. Isocrates Demon. 15, Plato Laws 732 C, 935 B, Epictetus Encheirid. xxxiii. 4, Dio Chrys.Or. 33. 703 R. Diogenes Laertius iii. 26, reports that Plato never laughed excessively in his youth. Aristotle's great-souled man would presumably have eschewed laughter (Eth. iv. 8, Rhet. 1389 b 10), as Lord Chesterfield advises his son to do.
2 In 563 E Plato generalizes this psychological principle.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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