arenever
neutral,
andthat
by
arguing
witha
superior
he
impugns
theintel
ligence
ofonemore
powerful
thanhe.Healsohasno
awareness
ofthe
per-
son
heis
dealing
with.Sinceeachman
believesthatheis
right,
andwords
will
rarely
convincehim
otherwise,
the
arguer’sreasoning
fallsondeaf
ears.When
cornered,
he
only
argues
more,
digging
hisown
grave.
Once
hehasmadetheother
person
feelinsecureandinferiorinhis
beliefs,
the
eloquence
ofSocratescouldnotsavethesituation.
Itisnot
simply
a
question
of
avoiding
an
argument
withthosewho
standabove
you.
We
allbelievewearemastersintherealmof
opinions
and
reasoning.
You
must
be
careful,
then:Learntodemonstratethecor-
rectnessof
your
ideas
indirectly.
OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW
In
1502,
in
Florence,
Italy,
anenormousblockofmarblestoodinthe
works
department
ofthechurchofSantaMariadelFiore.Ithadoncebeen
a
magnificentpiece
ofraw
stone,
butanunskillful
sculptor
had
mistakenly
boredahole
through
itwhere
thereshouldhavebeena
figure’slegs,gen-
erallymutilating
it.Piero
Soderini,
Florence’s
mayor,
had
contemplated
trying
tosavetheblock
bycommissioning
LeonardodaVincitoworkon
it,
orsomeother
master,
buthad
givenup,
since
everyoneagreed
thatthe
stonehadbeenruined.
So,
despite
the
money
thathadbeenwastedon
it,
it
gathered
dust
in
the
dark
hallsofthechurch.
Thiswaswhere
things
stooduntilsomeFlorentinefriendsofthe
great
Michelangelo
decidedtowritetothe
artist,
then
living
inRome.He
alone,
they
said,
coulddo
something
withthe
marble,
whichwasstill
magnificent
rawmaterial.
Michelangelo
traveled
to
Florence,
examinedthe
stone,
and
cametotheconclusionthathecouldin
fact
carvea
fine
figure
from
it,
by
adapting
the
pose
to
the
way
therockhadbeenmutilated.Soderini
argued
thatthiswasawasteof
time——nobody
could
salvage
suchadisasterwbut
he
finally agreed
to letthe artistworkonit.
Michelangelo
decidedhe
would
depict
a.
young
David,
sling
inhand.
Weeks
later,
as
Michelangelo
was
putting
thefinaltouches onthe
statue,
Soderinientered
the
studio.
Fancying
himselfitbitofa
connoisseur,
he.-studiedthe
huge
work,
andtold
Michelangelo
thatwhilehe
thought
it
was
magnificent,
the
nose,
he
judged,
wastoo
big.Michelangelo
realized
thatSoderiniwas
standing
in 2
placeright
underthe
giantfigure
anddid
nothavethe
properperspective.
Without
a
word,
he
gestured
forSoderini
tofollowhim
up
the
scaffolding.Reaching
the
nose,
he
pickedup
his
aswellasabitofmarbledustthat
lay
onthe
planks.
WithSodetini
just
afewfeetbelowhimonthe
scaffolding.Michelangelo
startedto
tap
lightly
with
thechisel,
letting
thebitsofdusthehad
gathered
inhishandto
falllittle
by
little.He
actually
did
nothing
to
change
the
nose,
but
gave
everyappearance
of
working
onit.Afterafewminutesofthischaradehe
stoodaside:“Lookatitnow.”“Ilikeit
better,”
replied
Soderini,
“you’ve
madeitcomealive.”
¢lu;;_\‘.
Iin
l);:[e'rr’(é‘
lhzy
man[/19one
izlirzrlred
gold_vi1>L'r'$
andsrtili.
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humslrmn
(1__1;!e¢’¢1',
and
for
lbw!1(’Xlrmzlavxzin-
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mrrtl
for
rlw
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Jim(‘ltd
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were
rating
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of
lzir
hrlntl.
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(lay
lhv
vizzrrwarcalled
before
1/11’
Sultan,
the
churgm
were
rcpmzted.
andthe
sultanwutclieclasthe
vizierwastied
up
and
throwntolhff
dugr
Ye!
win»:the1703.313saw
him,
tltrzr
rsm
up
tohim
with
it-agging
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asked111::
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life.
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replica‘.
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to(heathon
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lions‘
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h1u.vlu'rIwithrlaatnn
Henot
only]l’(lI'(.l()ll(f(l
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gave
him
a
fins‘
Si’!
z)fr‘l'n[l14'.s'
and
imndnl(warIn
himthe
mmwhohad.s'I(1mim'r:d
iris
regzzirairbte.
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viziersetIfwuz
}l"t‘1’
and
mnnmmu’[0mm:them
wishkirxdzicxsz
IHE§l'n'nE
R1:_\E:
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LAW 9
‘
71