“Well, this is their case who have attained virtue and wage war with adversity, or turn from vice and lay hold on the path of virtue.”

“I cannot deny it.”

“What of the good fortune which is given as reward of the good⁠—do the vulgar adjudge it bad?”

“Anything but that; they deem it to be the best, as indeed it is.”

“What, then, of that which remains, which, though it is harsh, puts the restraint of just punishment on the bad⁠—does popular opinion deem it good?”

“Nay; of all that can be imagined, it is accounted the most miserable.”

“Observe, then, if, in following popular opinion, we have not ended in a conclusion quite paradoxical.”