Book 7
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Ath. By means of what kinds of song and dance both these aims may be effected,—this has been, in part, stated in outline, and the paths of procedure have been marked out, in the belief that the poet is right when he says—Telemachus, thine own wit will in partInstruct thee, and the rest will Heaven supply;For to the will of Heaven thou owest birthAnd all thy nurture, I would fain believe.Hom. Od. 3.26It behoves our nurslings also to be of this same mind, and to believe that what we have said is sufficient, and that the heavenly powers will suggest to them all else that concerns sacrifice and the dance,— in honor of what gods and at what seasons respectively they are to play and win their favor, and thus mold their lives according to the shape of their nature, inasmuch as they are puppetsCp. Plat. Laws 644d-e. for the most part, yet share occasionally in truth.
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Meg. You have a very mean opinion, Stranger, of the human race.
