Basic Qualities of Guardians

The noble youth is very like a well-bred dog in respect of guarding and watching. Both of them should be:

• quick to see and overtake the enemy,
• strong and brave when they have caught and have to fight with him.

An animal that has no spirit will not likely be brave. Spirit is invincible and unconquerable. Its presence makes the soul of any creature absolutely fearless and indomitable. We now have a clear notion of the bodily qualities required in the guardian.

Of the mental qualities, his soul is to be full of spirit. But these spirited natures tend to be savage with one another, and with everybody else.

They should be dangerous to their enemies, yet gentle to their friends. If not, they will destroy themselves without waiting for their enemies to destroy them.

How can we find a gentle nature which has also a great spirit, for the one contradicts the other?

A good guardian will not lack these two qualities. Yet their combination appears to be impossible. But there are natures gifted with those opposite qualities, as seen in many animals.

Our friend the dog is a very good one. Well-bred dogs are perfectly gentle to their acquaintances, yet fierce to strangers.

A guardian, besides the spirited nature, needs to have the qualities of a philosopher. Whenever a dog sees a stranger, it becomes angry even if he does no harm. But when it sees an acquaintance, it welcomes him even if he does nothing good.

Your dog is a true philosopher because it distinguishes the face of a friend and of an enemy only by the criterion of knowing and not knowing.

An animal must be a lover of learning if it determines what it likes and dislikes by the test of knowledge and ignorance. Philosophy is the love of learning and wisdom.

A man who is likely to be gentle to his friends and acquaintances, must by nature be a lover of wisdom and knowledge. Then he who is to be a really good and noble guardian of the State will require to unite in himself philosophy and spirit and swiftness and strength.