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Plato's Seventh Letter on going into politics

c. 353 BCE, Athens. Seventh Letter; authorship disputed.

Where and when

c. 353 BCEAthens

about 2,378 years ago

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Plato

, AthensSeventh Letter; authorship disputed

In plain words, ours

At first I badly wanted to go into politics. But watching everything lurch in every direction, I ended up dizzy.

Consequently, although at first I was filled with an ardent desire to engage in public affairs, when I considered all this and saw how things were shifting about anyhow in all directions, I finally became dizzy;

Plato, Letters 7.325d–eTranslated by R. G. Bury (1929)Read the full passage (Plato, Letters 7.325d–e, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

In a letter said to be Plato's (scholars dispute who wrote it), the writer looks back on his early wish to enter politics in Athens. He describes laws and customs being corrupted fast, and trusted friends being hard to find.

Checked claim by claim against: the passage around the quote.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. c. 386 BCEabout 33 years earlier Aspasia's speech on how a state shapes men Also about democracy and government
  2. by c. 354 BCE1 year earlier Ischomachus on pots and pans Also in Athens
  3. c. 353 BCEThis momentPlato's Seventh Letter on going into politics
  4. c. 353 BCEAbout the same year Plato's Seventh Letter on Socrates in court More from Plato
  5. c. 353 BCEAbout the same year Plato's Seventh Letter on the Thirty Same passageMore from Plato
  6. c. 353 BCEAbout the same year Plato's Seventh Letter on entering public life Same passageMore from Plato
  7. by 348 BCEabout 5 years later Diogenes and the plucked chicken Also in Athens
  8. by 348 BCEabout 5 years later Diogenes tramples Plato's carpets Also in Athens
  9. c. 335–322 BCEabout 25 years later Aristotle on the wisdom of the many Also about democracy and government

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

When, therefore, I considered all this, and the type of men who were administering the affairs of State, with their laws too and their customs, the more I considered them and the more I advanced in years myself, the more difficult appeared to me the task of managing affairs of State rightly. For it was impossible to take action without friends and trusty companions; and these it was not easy to find ready to hand, since our State was no longer managed according to the principles and institutions of our forefathers; while to acquire other new friends with any facility was a thing impossible. Moreover, both the written laws and the customs were being corrupted, and that with surprising rapidity.

The quote: Consequently, although at first I was filled with an ardent desire to engage in public affairs, when I considered all this and saw how things were shifting about anyhow in all directions, I finally became dizzy;

and although I continued to consider by what means some betterment could be brought about not only in these matters but also in the government as a whole, yet as regards political action I kept constantly waiting for an opportune moment; until, finally, looking at all the States which now exist, I perceived that one and all they are badly governed; for the state of their laws is such as to be almost incurable without some marvellous overhauling and good-luck to boot.

Plato, Letters 7.325c–326aTranslated by R. G. Bury (1929)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
c. 353 BCE. The Seventh Letter is conventionally dated c. 353 BCE, after Dion's death (354 BCE); it recalls the years after the trial of Socrates.
Whose words
Seventh Letter; authorship disputed. Who was Plato?
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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