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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Apology by Xenophon: should seem better for me to die at once? Do you not know that up to
this moment I will not concede to any man to have lived a better life
than I have; since what can exceed the pleasure, which has been mine,
of knowing[10] that my whole life has been spent holily and justly?
And indeed this verdict of self-approval I found re-echoed in the
opinion which my friends and intimates have formed concerning me.[11]
And now if my age is still to be prolonged,[12] I know that I cannot
escape paying[13] the penalty of old age, in increasing dimness of
sight and dulness of hearing. I shall find myself slower to learn new
lessons, and apter to forget the lessons I have learnt. And if to
these be added the consciousness of failing powers, the sting of self-
The Apology |
