“I never engaged in public affairs, but in my own, namely that I commit no injustice.”Platon · Apologia lui Socrate · -399 · Apologia, 36a
A person's first job is not to change the world, but to commit no injustice.
Facing his accusers, Socrates redefines what it means to serve the city. He never gave speeches in the assembly, but he worked at something harder: his own correctness, day after day. The mechanism is that injustice always begins inside — with the small compromises we allow ourselves. An example: an accountant who refuses to falsify a figure does more good than an orator preaching honesty.
Why it matters It reminds anyone who thinks only visible, public actions count morally that their own conduct is the first job.