I guess Plato wasn't aware of that cliche. He uses them on almost every page; e.g. his image of the cave in "Republic." Here is Ralph Waldo Emerson's take on Plato:
AMONG secular*(7) books, Plato only is entitled to Omar's*(8) fanatical compliment to the Koran, when he said, "Burn the libraries; for their value is in this book." These sentences contain the culture of nations; these are the corner-stone of schools; these are the fountain-head of literatures. A discipline it is in logic, arithmetic, taste, symmetry, poetry, language, rhetoric, ontology, morals or practical wisdom. There was never such range of speculation. Out of Plato come all things that are still written and debated among men of thought. Great havoc makes he among our originalities. We have reached the mountain from which all these drift boulders were detached. The Bible of the learned for twenty-two hundred years, every brisk young man who says in succession fine things to each reluctant generation,- Boethius, Rabelais, Erasmus, Bruno, Locke, Rousseau, Alfieri, Coleridge,- is some reader of Plato, translating into the vernacular, wittily, his good things. Even the men of grander proportion suffer some deduction from the misfortune (shall I say?) of coming after this exhausting generalizer. St. Augustine, Copernicus, Newton, Behmen, Swedenborg, Goethe, are likewise his debtors and must say after him. For it is fair to credit the broadest generalizer with all the particulars deducible from his thesis.
Here is Lincoln on Politic:
REASON, COLD, CALCULATING, UNIMPASSIONED, REASON , must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence.--Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws: and, that we improved to the last; that we remained free to the last; that we revered his name to the last; that, during his long sleep, we permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate his resting place; shall be that which to learn the last trump shall awaken our WASHINGTON. Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest, as the rock of its basis; and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
You owe us the REASONS (cold, calculating, unimpassioned) that a third party candidate or staying home will further our conservative aims. "End of Story" is not a reason.
If you think the Republican Party just is NOT liberal enough--and isn't moving to the LEFT fast enough--there IS a Republican RINO candidate out there for you.
If you want a more authoritarian, bullying, more intrusive, more controlling, all-powerful, ‘big government knows best’, 'Big Brother' type of government,,,,,
headed by an east coast liberal who worked in the Bobby Kennedy campaign, voted for George McGovern, who as mayor publicly distanced himself from Ronald Reagan, who vocally supported and proudly endorsed a far-left, liberal, big-government, socialist, democrat like Mario Cuomo over the Republican candidate for governor (largely because the Republican wanted to cut state income taxes),,,,
who first ran for mayor on the LIBERAL PARTY ticket,,,,
and who proudly positioned himself as a gun-grabbing, pro-amnesty, pro-litigation, pro-abortion, gay-rights crusading, condescending, arrogant, and narcissistic LIBERAL, New York ‘pit bull’ lawyer,,,,
who believes in sanctuary cities, global warming, encouraging more illegal aliens to come here by telling them they are not really illegal, and whose idea of fiscal restraint is using our tax money for Federally-funded abortions,,,,
who has been a public defender of Bill Clinton on more than one occasion,,,
who was SO LIBERAL that he wasn’t even invited to the Republican Convention in ’96--after refusing to endorse (until the last minute) the Republican candidate opposing Clinton, while saying that (paraphrasing here) "he did not want to waste his time",,,,
and a cousin-marrying, Clinton-apologist--whose personal life is an absolute TRAIN WRECK (and whose blatant, public cheating on his wife almost makes Bill Clinton look like a decent family man and loving husband--if that is even possible).
If you want to abandon and sacrifice traditional, core, bedrock, conservative principles and values--a LIBERAL BULLY like Rudy is the RIGHT MAN AT THE RIGHT TIME!!!!
But the TOP REASON is THIS, SUMMARIZING all of the above:
Liberal Republicans are much more dangerous than liberal democrats,,,,
because liberal Republicans (like JulieAnnie) BLUR THE DISTINCTION between conservatism and liberalism,,,
making LIBERALISM MUCH MORE ACCEPTABLE!!!
That's MORE than enough reasons for me. End of story.
I prefer one by a somewhat more contemporary conservative.
As the Gipper so eloquently stated,
"So, it was our Republican Party that gave me a political home. When I signed up for duty, I didn't have to check my principles at the door. And I soon found out that the desire for victory did not overcome our devotion to ideals".
--Ronald Reagan remarks at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans, August 15, 1988.
May of the 20%ers (aka Rudy apologists) will be checking theirs at the door.