The Erotic Essay (50-51)

and of general sagacity in the laws which the majority of the Greeks continue using to this day. Yet in spite of these great claims to distinction he set his heart upon nothing as much as becoming one of the Seven Sages,[*] believing that philosophy was no reproach but that it brought honor to those who pursued it, having been no less wise in this very judgement than in the others in which he showed himself superior.

My own judgement is not different from Solon’s and I recommend to you to study philosophy, bearing in mind the advantages you have possessed from the beginning. Indeed it was with this purpose in view I ran through the list of them myself in the first part of my essay,[*] not expecting to make a conquest of you by praising your natural gifts, but that I may the better urge you to take up philosophy if you shall escape the error of putting a low value on it, or, through pride in your present advantages, of under-valuing the advantages yet to be gained.