Her. I will tell you: I observed that it attracted most disciples, and thence inferred that it was superior.
Ly. Give me figures; how many more of them than of Epicureans, Platonists, Peripatetics? Of course you took a sort of show of hands.
Her. Well, no; I didn't count; I just guessed.
Ly. Now, now! you are not teaching, but hoaxing me; judge by guess work and impression, indeed, on a thing of this importance! You are hiding the truth.
Her. Well, that was not my only way; every one told me the Epicureans were sensual and self-indulgent, the Peripatetics avaricious and contentious, the Platonists conceited and vain; about the Stoics, on the contrary, many said they had fortitude and an open mind; he who goes their way, I heard, was the true king and millionaire and wise man, alone and all in one.
Ly. And, of course, it was other people who so described them; you would not have taken their own word for their excellences.
Her. Certainly not; it was others who said it.
Ly. Not their rivals, I suppose?
Her. Oh, no.
Ly. Laymen, then?