Well, I also pay respect to my dinner plate. I wash it and wipe it clean. I even drive a nail into the wall for my oil bottle. So are these things better than me? No. But they meet some of my needs, so I take care of them. Don't I also tend to my donkey? Don't I wash his feet and groom him? You should know that every person looks out for himself first. He cares about you the same way he cares about his donkey. Who actually respects you as a human being? Show me one person. Who wants to become like you? Who copies you the way people copy Socrates? But I can cut off your head! You're right about that. I forgot that I should respect you the same way I respect a fever or stomach sickness. Maybe I should build you an altar, like they built one for fever in Rome.
Well, I also pay respect to my platter, and I wash it and wipe it; and for the sake of my oil-flask, I drive a peg into the wall. Well, then, are these things superior to me? No, but they supply some of my wants, and for this reason I take care of them. Well, do I not attend to my ass? Do I not wash his feet? Do I not clean him? Do you not know that every man has regard to himself, and to you just the same as he has regard to his ass? For who has regard to you as a man? Show me. Who wishes to become like you? Who imitates you, as he imitates Socrates? But I can cut off your head. You say right. I had forgotten that I must have regard to you, as I would to a fever and the bile, and raise an altar to you, as there is at Rome an altar to fever.