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him and asked, 'Is this your dog?'
And the sophist said, 'Yes.'
Socrates said, 'Is the dog male or female?'
And the sophist said, A female.'
Socrates asked, 'Is the dog a mother or not yet a mother?'
And the sophist said, Yes, the dog is a mother.'
Socrates laughed and said, 'You are the son of it, you son of a bitch.'
I don't know where Bertrand Russell got it from but sophists were that type of people. They had no principles, they had no truth. they were opportunists. And they were ready to argue for anything -- wrong or right was not the question. They simply enjoyed argumentation. They were like lawyers. You go to the lawyer and it does not matter whether you are wrong or right, he is ready to support you, he is ready to fight for you.
Mulla Nasrudin went to a lawyer and told him the whole story. The lawyer s.lid, 'Don't be worried, your victory is absolutely certain, a hundred per cent certain. You trust me. You leave it to me. You are going to win.'
But Mulla Nasrudin got up and started to leave the office. The lawyer said, 'Where are you going? You have not said anything.'
Mulla replied, There is no need I have told you the other man's story, the other side's story. Now there is no need to fight.'
But this is no way to judge. You tell any story and the lawyer says, 'Yes, you are going to win.' And he will support you and he will argue for you. He has no interest in truths: his only interest is if he is paid rightly -- then everything is okay. Then whom is he serving? Truth or untruth? It does not matter, it is immaterial. He serves money, prestige, power, respectability. If these things come he is ready to support anybody. He is not against crime; he is ready to protect crime if that is the way money comes.
Now this man is a sophist, he is not a sage, he is not a Master -- he is not even a teacher, not even an honest teacher. He is a sophist. But he has persuaded the king -- 'THIS IS THE SORT OF WAY I WOULD LIKE TO FIND.' But there is nothing to find.
'THE TEACHINGS OF CONFUCIUS AND MO TZU ARE WHAT I HAVE IN MIND.'
Hui Ang is a disciple of Confucius and Mo Tzu.
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