Book 4
6.13
Whenever anyone argued with him on any point without being able to make himself clear, asserting but not proving, that so and so was wiser or an abler politician or braver or what not, he would lead the whole discussion back to the definition required, much in this way:
6.14
Do you say that your man is a better citizen than mine?I do indeed.Then why didn’t we first consider what is the function of a good citizen?Let us do so.In financial administration, then, is not the better man he who makes the city wealthier?Certainly.And in war he who makes her stronger than her rivals?Of course.And on an embassy he who turns enemies into friends?Presumably.And in debate he who puts down strife and produces harmony?I think so.By this process of leading back the argument even his adversay came to see the truth clearly.
6.15
Whenever he himself argued out a question, he advanced by steps that gained general assent, holding this to be the only sure method. Accordingly, whenever he argued, he gained a greater measure of assent from his hearers than any man I have known. He said that Homer gave Odysseus the credit of being a safe speakerOdyssey, viii. 171. because he had a way of leading the discussion from one acknowledged truth to another.
7.1
I think that I have said enough to show that Socrates stated his own opinion plainly to those who consorted with him: I will now show that he also took pains to make them independent in doing the work that they were fitted for. For I never knew a man who was so careful to discover what each of his companions knew. Whatever it befits a gentleman to know he taught most zealously, so far as his own knowledge extended; if he was not entirely familiar with a subject, he took them to those who knew.
