The truth of the matter is this: No god is a philosopher
or seeker after wisdom, for he is wise already; nor does any man who is
wise seek after wisdom. Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom. For
herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is
nevertheless satisfied with himself: he has no desire for that of which he
feels no want.' 'But who then, Diotima,' I said, 'are the lovers of
wisdom, if they are neither the wise nor the foolish?' 'A child may answer
that question,' she replied; 'they are those who are in a mean between the
two; Love is one of them. For wisdom is a most beautiful thing, and Love
is of the beautiful; and therefore Love is also a philosopher or lover of
wisdom, and being a lover of wisdom is in a mean between the wise and the
ignorant. And of this too his birth is the cause; for his father is
wealthy and wise, and his mother poor and foolish. Such, my dear Socrates,
is the nature of the spirit Love. The error in your conception of him was
very natural, and as I imagine from what you say, has arisen out of a
confusion of love and the beloved, which made you think that love was all
beautiful.
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