They were acting in the interest of the public, and did not wish to preserve useless lives, or raise up a puny offspring to wretched sires.

Honest diseases they honestly cured; and if a man was wounded, they applied the proper remedies, and then let him eat and drink what he liked.

But they declined to treat intemperate and worthless subjects, even though they might have made large fortunes out of them.

As to the story of Pindar, that Asclepius was slain by a thunderbolt for restoring a rich man to life, that is a lie--following our old rule we must say either that he did not take bribes, or that he was not the son of a god.
Glaucon then asks Socrates whether the best physicians and the best judges will not be those who have had severally the greatest experience of diseases and of crimes.

Socrates draws a distinction between the two professions.