"Let us not say that Socrates or Protagoras has triumphed. We have simply got a little closer to the truth."
"God may exist for the individual, Socrates; in the individual consciousness. But the truth lies beyond us. Man's image of a tree is true, because a tree is."
"The colour, the shape, the texture, are not," replied Socrates; "except as the man sees them. Philip was right in saying that if we know one thing we know all others. Philip, wake up!"
"Socrates, what mischief are you up to now that Pythodorus is gone," said Philip. "You talk too much. Protagoras said simply that a monkey imagines God as a monkey, while a peacock imagines him as a peacock."
"O Philip, what a fool you are! Does a foolish man imagine a foolish God? Does a blind man imagine a blind God?"
"Of course not."
"Then, listen, Philip! Does Pythodorus imagine a God who is a nuisance to his friends?"
"No."
"Very well, then, some standard exists which is external to the individual, but which he only knows through his inner consciousness. The oracle at Delphi was right when it said: 'Know thyself. For the more a man knows himself, the more he knows God.'"
"It is dawn," said Lysis.