when by prodigies they make known to the Greeks the things that are to
happen, are they silent to you alone, and are you the only person they
neglect? Do you think that the gods would have instilled this notion
into men, that it is they who can make them happy or miserable, if it
were not indeed in their power to do so? And do you believe that the
human race would have been thus long abused without ever discovering the
cheat? Do you not know that the most ancient and wisest republics and
people have been also the most pious, and that man, at the age when his
judgment is ripest, has then the greatest bent to the worship of the
Deity?

"My dear Aristodemus, consider that your mind governs your body according
to its pleasure: in like manner we ought to believe that there is a mind
diffused throughout the whole universe that disposeth of all things
according to its counsels. You must not imagine that your weak sight can
reach to objects that are several leagues distant, and that the eye of
God cannot, at one and the same time, see all things. You must not
imagine that your mind can reflect on the affairs of Athens, of Egypt,
and of Sicily, and that the providence of God cannot, at one and the same
moment, consider all things. As, therefore, you may make trial of the
gratitude of a man by doing him a kindness, and as you may discover his
prudence by consulting him in difficult affairs, so, if you would be
convinced how great is the power and goodness of God, apply yourself
sincerely to piety and his worship; then, my dear Aristodemus, you shall
soon be persuaded that the Deity sees all, hears all, is present
everywhere, and, at the same time, regulates and superintends all the
events of the universe."

By such discourses as these Socrates taught his friends never to commit
any injustice or dishonourable action, not only in the presence of men,