| Now do you really imagine that I could
have survived all these years, if I had
led a public life, supposing that like a
good man I had always maintained the
right and had made justice, as I ought,
the first thing? No indeed, men of
Athens, neither I nor any other man.
But I have been always the same in all
my actions, public as well as private,
and never have I yielded any base
compliance to those who are
slanderously termed my disciples, or to
any other. Not that I have any regular
disciples. But if any one likes to come
and hear me while I am pursuing my
mission, whether he be young or old,
he is not excluded. Nor do I converse
only with those who pay; but any one,
whether he be rich or poor, may ask
and answer me and listen to my words;
and whether he turns out to be a bad
man or a good one, neither result can
be justly imputed to me; for I never
taught or professed to teach him
anything. And if any one says that he
has ever learned or heard anything from
me in private which all the world has
not heard, let me tell you that he is
lying. | Student name:
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