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Forgive my enthusiasm; I am becoming excited; but when I see her

trampled underfoot, I am angry at the authors of her disgrace. 'I

did not notice that you were more excited than you ought to have

been.' But I felt that I was. Now do not let us forget another

point in the selection of our disciples-that they must be young

and not old. For Solon is mistaken in saying that an old man can

be always learning; youth is the time of study, and here we must

remember that the mind is free and dainty, and, unlike the body,

must not be made to work against the grain. Learning should be at

first a sort of play, in which the natural bent is detected. As

in training them for war, the young dogs should at first only

taste blood; but when the necessary gymnastics are over which

during two or three years divide life between sleep and bodily

exercise, then the education of the soul will become a more

serious matter.