Without self‑knowledge and virtue one cannot competently manage one’s own or others’ affairs, so suc… — Plato

Without self‑knowledge and virtue one cannot competently manage one’s own or others’ affairs, so such a person cannot be a true statesman or economist and will bring misery on himself and the city; therefore cities need virtue rather than material power, and anyone who intends to rule must first acquire justice and wisdom and govern in accordance with the divine.

By Plato, from Alcibiade

Key Arguments

From the dependence of knowing belongings on knowing oneself, Socrates infers that one who does not know his own things will also be ignorant of others’ things and therefore 'will not know the affairs of states,' so 'such a man can never be a statesman' nor 'an economist.'
He traces a chain: ignorance of what one is doing leads to error, which leads to failure 'both in his public and private capacity'; this failure makes the agent miserable and also 'those for whom he is acting.'
He concludes that 'he who is not wise and good cannot be happy,' and hence 'the bad…are miserable,' while deliverance from misery comes not from wealth but from wisdom.
Applying this to cities, he insists that for happiness they do not need 'walls, or triremes, or docks, or numbers, or size…without virtue'; the implication is that material and military resources are insufficient without moral excellence.
He argues that anyone who means to 'govern and superintend, not only himself and the things of himself, but the state and the things of the state, must in the first place acquire virtue,' and because 'a man' cannot give what he does not have, he must first acquire virtue in himself before imparting it to citizens.
Thus Alcibiades does not chiefly need to 'obtain power or authority' to accomplish what he wishes for himself and the state, but 'justice and wisdom,' repositioning the goal of political life from power to virtue.
Socrates adds a theologically charged claim: if Alcibiades and the state 'act wisely and justly,' they will 'act according to the will of God' by looking only 'at what is bright and divine' as a mirror in which they will 'see and know yourselves and your own good,' leading to acting 'rightly and well' and happiness.
Conversely, if they act unrighteously, their 'eye will turn to the dark and godless,' and being in 'darkness and ignorance' of themselves, they will likely 'do deeds of darkness,' emphasizing that turning away from the divine standard produces ignorance and injustice.
Using the analogies of a sick man with tyrannical power who ignores physicians and a ship commanded by an ignorant man, he shows that power without understanding ruins both individual and community (the patient dies, the ship’s crew perishes), so in a state, 'where there is any power and authority which is wanting in virtue, will not misfortune, in like manner, ensue?'
He concludes that 'Not tyrannical power…should be the aim either of individuals or states, if they would be happy, but virtue,' reinforcing that the true political and personal aim is moral excellence under divine orientation, not unchecked power.

Source Quotes

ALCIBIADES: So much may be supposed. SOCRATES: And he who knows not the things which belong to himself, will in like manner be ignorant of the things which belong to others? ALCIBIADES: Very true.

ALCIBIADES: Very true. SOCRATES: And if he knows not the affairs of others, he will not know the affairs of states? ALCIBIADES: Certainly not.

ALCIBIADES: Certainly not. SOCRATES: Then such a man can never be a statesman? ALCIBIADES: He cannot.

ALCIBIADES: He cannot. SOCRATES: He will not know what he is doing? ALCIBIADES: He will not.

ALCIBIADES: Assuredly. SOCRATES: And if he falls into error will he not fail both in his public and private capacity? ALCIBIADES: Yes, indeed.

ALCIBIADES: Yes, indeed. SOCRATES: And failing, will he not be miserable? ALCIBIADES: Very.

ALCIBIADES: They will be miserable also. SOCRATES: Then he who is not wise and good cannot be happy? ALCIBIADES: He cannot.

ALCIBIADES: Yes, very. SOCRATES: And if so, not he who has riches, but he who has wisdom, is delivered from his misery? ALCIBIADES: Clearly.

ALCIBIADES: Clearly. SOCRATES: Cities, then, if they are to be happy, do not want walls, or triremes, or docks, or numbers, or size, Alcibiades, without virtue? (Compare Arist.

Pol.) ALCIBIADES: Indeed they do not. SOCRATES: And you must give the citizens virtue, if you mean to administer their affairs rightly or nobly? ALCIBIADES: Certainly.

ALCIBIADES: Certainly. SOCRATES: But can a man give that which he has not? ALCIBIADES: Impossible.

ALCIBIADES: Impossible. SOCRATES: Then you or any one who means to govern and superintend, not only himself and the things of himself, but the state and the things of the state, must in the first place acquire virtue. ALCIBIADES: That is true.

ALCIBIADES: That is true. SOCRATES: You have not therefore to obtain power or authority, in order to enable you to do what you wish for yourself and the state, but justice and wisdom. ALCIBIADES: Clearly.

ALCIBIADES: Clearly. SOCRATES: You and the state, if you act wisely and justly, will act according to the will of God? ALCIBIADES: Certainly.

ALCIBIADES: Certainly. SOCRATES: As I was saying before, you will look only at what is bright and divine, and act with a view to them? ALCIBIADES: Yes.

ALCIBIADES: Yes. SOCRATES: In that mirror you will see and know yourselves and your own good? ALCIBIADES: Yes.

ALCIBIADES: I accept the security. SOCRATES: But if you act unrighteously, your eye will turn to the dark and godless, and being in darkness and ignorance of yourselves, you will probably do deeds of darkness. ALCIBIADES: Very possibly.

ALCIBIADES: Very possibly. SOCRATES: For if a man, my dear Alcibiades, has the power to do what he likes, but has no understanding, what is likely to be the result, either to him as an individual or to the state—for example, if he be sick and is able to do what he likes, not having the mind of a physician—having moreover tyrannical power, and no one daring to reprove him, what will happen to him? Will he not be likely to have his constitution ruined?

ALCIBIADES: That is true. SOCRATES: Or again, in a ship, if a man having the power to do what he likes, has no intelligence or skill in navigation, do you see what will happen to him and to his fellow-sailors? ALCIBIADES: Yes; I see that they will all perish.

ALCIBIADES: Yes; I see that they will all perish. SOCRATES: And in like manner, in a state, and where there is any power and authority which is wanting in virtue, will not misfortune, in like manner, ensue? ALCIBIADES: Certainly.

ALCIBIADES: Certainly. SOCRATES: Not tyrannical power, then, my good Alcibiades, should be the aim either of individuals or states, if they would be happy, but virtue. ALCIBIADES: That is true.

Key Concepts

And he who knows not the things which belong to himself, will in like manner be ignorant of the things which belong to others?
And if he knows not the affairs of others, he will not know the affairs of states?
Then such a man can never be a statesman?
He will not know what he is doing?
And if he falls into error will he not fail both in his public and private capacity?
And failing, will he not be miserable?
Then he who is not wise and good cannot be happy?
And if so, not he who has riches, but he who has wisdom, is delivered from his misery?
Cities, then, if they are to be happy, do not want walls, or triremes, or docks, or numbers, or size, Alcibiades, without virtue?
And you must give the citizens virtue, if you mean to administer their affairs rightly or nobly?
But can a man give that which he has not?
Then you or any one who means to govern and superintend, not only himself and the things of himself, but the state and the things of the state, must in the first place acquire virtue.
You have not therefore to obtain power or authority, in order to enable you to do what you wish for yourself and the state, but justice and wisdom.
You and the state, if you act wisely and justly, will act according to the will of God?
As I was saying before, you will look only at what is bright and divine, and act with a view to them?
In that mirror you will see and know yourselves and your own good?
But if you act unrighteously, your eye will turn to the dark and godless, and being in darkness and ignorance of yourselves, you will probably do deeds of darkness.
For if a man, my dear Alcibiades, has the power to do what he likes, but has no understanding, what is likely to be the result, either to him as an individual or to the state—for example, if he be sick and is able to do what he likes, not having the mind of a physician—having moreover tyrannical power, and no one daring to reprove him, what will happen to him?
Or again, in a ship, if a man having the power to do what he likes, has no intelligence or skill in navigation, do you see what will happen to him and to his fellow-sailors?
And in like manner, in a state, and where there is any power and authority which is wanting in virtue, will not misfortune, in like manner, ensue?
Not tyrannical power, then, my good Alcibiades, should be the aim either of individuals or states, if they would be happy, but virtue.

Context

Following the mirror analogy, Socrates draws out ethical and political consequences: without self‑knowledge one cannot know or manage one’s own or others’ affairs; such ignorance produces misery and political failure. He redefines the needs of cities and rulers in terms of virtue, justice, and wisdom oriented to the divine, not in terms of military or institutional power, and he uses medical and nautical analogies to show the danger of power without understanding.