Political myths

re: "One old adage" (BP, PostBag, November 2, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Although I've been reading Plato for the past half century, I'm not familiar with the quotation Stuart Ayres attributes to him. Perhaps Mr Ayres could narrow it down to at least the dialogue, if not the Stephanus number, in which Plato says, "Wise men speak because they have something to say; a fool, because he has to say something." 

I highly recommend Plato, whose Socrates was the first to say a lot that is, being actually wise, well worth the studying. He likely also thought that the wise would care for the accuracy of what they say. 

Of course, Plato's wise Socrates was infamously put to death in strict accord with the law because his resolutely peaceful speech showed up the hollowness of those deeming themselves the good and wise people of ancient Athens, whose official charge was that he was corrupting the young with heterodox teachings about the gods (Euthyphro, 2c - 3b). Even in Athens 2,400 years ago, fantastic myths were a powerful weapon of dirty politics.  

 Felix Qui 

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on November 10, 2023, under the title "Political myths" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2682259/political-myths