Jeanette:

[Sethomas]

Or, "Miss X", as you like:

Long ago I pointed out that your signature, the quotation by Plato, is odd to me in that it resembles a more likely version of the quote that I'd seen a college friend use on her webpage, hers was something like "Those who refuse to participate in politics are punished by being ruled by their inferiors".

Hers sounds more likely because it doesn't rely on wordplay. I've only studied a little Attic Greek, so I don't feel like recreating the whole process, but instinctively I HIGHLY doubt that they had an equivalent idiom to saying "he's TOO SMART to..." that would fit into wordplay alongside a contrasting use of "dumber". To me that stands out as being culturally subjective as an idiom.

This seriously nags at me. Not merely your perfidy in keeping the quote, but also the genuine curiosity. Here's the thing: there are a billion online results to variants on it, but NONE of them are sourced from what I could find. Every word we have that is attributable to a historical figure known as Plato comes from a corpus of works that can be bound in one book. I actually have one, except I need to reclaim it from a neurotic ex. That means that if it's not easy to point to a very specific line of a specific work (his works are actually all rubricated with a universal system of correlation--every line is given something like "2022A" and that means something to people with worthless PhDs) then the quote is almost certainly apocryphal. It's fake. Some asshole thought it'd be fun to say that and give it to Plato for kicks.

NOW: it bears noting that in antiquity, it was very popular for someone to invent apocryphal literature. In fact, as a Jewish lass you've probably heard the word "apocrypha" in regards the deuterocanon--books of the Old Testament that the Jews exclude from scripture because they're not culturally viable but were used by all Christians until Martin Luther set the precedent of denouncing their theological merit among Protestants.

Another fun word to know: pseudography (most always used in adjective form). That is the modern word used to describe the practice of writing something just barely out of historical context and giving it a false attribution. Given the ubiquity of that quote, I find it likely that it was included in a pseudographic list of Platonic dictums. This could have very well been soon after his death, possibly BEFORE his death, but whatever. The point is, there is no legitimacy in calling it a quote by Plato.

Especially not in the form you have. Har.

Hugs and kisses,
-Seth

[Sethomas]

I think the word I had in mind was actually "pseudepigraphical". Eh.

[Kitsa]

I'm a bit startled that you qualified it as perfidy.

[Jeanette X]

Perfidy? Who did I betray in keeping the damn quote? Anyway, its gone now.

The only thing more insufferable than a pedantic jackass is a pedantic jackass who's probably right.