But what numberless causes tend to destroy these rare beings! There is no good thing which may not be a cause of evil--health, wealth, strength, rank, and the virtues themselves, when placed under unfavourable circumstances.

For as in the animal or vegetable world the strongest seeds most need the accompaniment of good air and soil, so the best of human characters turn out the worst when they fall upon an unsuitable soil; whereas weak natures hardly ever do any considerable good or harm; they are not the stuff out of which either great criminals or great heroes are made.

The philosopher follows the same analogy: he is either the best or the worst of all men.

Some persons say that the Sophists are the corrupters of youth; but is not public opinion the real Sophist who is everywhere present--in those very persons, in the assembly, in the courts, in the camp, in the applauses and hisses of the theatre re-echoed by the surrounding hills?
Will not a young man's heart leap amid these discordant sounds?
and will any education save him from being carried away by the torrent?
Nor is this all.

For if he will not yield to opinion, there follows the gentle compulsion of exile or death.