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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

Socrates

the gadfly

Socrates: 469 BC - 399 BC

from https://iep.utm.edu/socrates/

Socrates believes that his mission of caring for souls extends to the entirety of the city of Athens.  He argues that the god gave him to the city as a gift and that his mission is to help improve the city.  He thus attempts to show that he is not guilty of impiety precisely because everything he does is in response to the oracle and at the service of the god.  Socrates characterizes himself as a gadfly and the city as a sluggish horse in need of stirring up (Apology 30e).