quote · Legacy record
Nor when love is of this disinterested sort is there any disgrace in being deceived, but in every other case there is equal disgrace in being or not being deceived. For he who is gracious to his lover under the impression that he is rich, and is disappointed of his gains because he turns out to be poor, is disgraced all the same: for he has done his best to show that he would give himself up to any one's "uses base" for the sake of money; but this is not honourable. And on the same principle he who gives himself to a lover because he is a good man, and in the hope that he will be improved by his company, shows himself to be virtuous, even though the object of his affection turn out to be a villain, and to have no virtue; and if he is deceived he has committed a noble error. For he has proved that for his part he will do anything for anybody with a view to virtue and improvement, than which there can be nothing nobler.
Nor when love is of this disinterested sort is there any disgrace in being deceived, but in every other case there is equal disgrace in being or not being deceived. For he who is gracious to his lover under the impression that he is rich, and is disappointed of his gains because he turns out to be poor, is disgraced all the same: for he has done his best to show that he would give himself up to any one's "uses base" for the sake of money; but this is not honourable. And on the same principle he who gives himself to a lover because he is a good man, and in the hope that he will be improved by his company, shows himself to be virtuous, even though the object of his affection turn out to be a villain, and to have no virtue; and if he is deceived he has committed a noble error. For he has proved that for his part he will do anything for anybody with a view to virtue and improvement, than which there can be nothing nobler.
Approximate author period: c. 387 BC · classical
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- Author or tradition
- Plato
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 387 BC · classical
Approximate historical context for attribution to Plato, based on life years -427 to -347. Opening discussion dates Plato circa 427–347 BCE. Ancient life years and the resulting grouping point are approximate, not independently verified dates for attributed quotations. Source: Plato on Knowledge in the Theaetetus — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-theaetetus/ (checked 2026-10-09). This does not establish the composition date or authenticate the attribution of these words. Source: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-theaetetus/ (accessed 2026-10-09).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 342005; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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