"I will tell you," I said, "what indeed appears to me. For philosophy is in truth the greatest possession, and the most honorable in the sight of God, to whom alone it leads us and unites us, and those are truly holy who have applied their mind to philosophy. But what philosophy is, and for what reason it was sent down to men, has escaped the notice of most; for otherwise there would not be Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics, nor Pythagoreans, since this knowledge is one."
Now I will tell you why philosophy became many-headed. It happened that those who first took it up, and who through it became renowned, were followed by men who made no inquiry whatever concerning the truth, but, being merely struck with admiration at their teachers' endurance and self-control and the novelty of their words, supposed those things to be true which each had learned from his own teacher. These men in turn handed down to those after them such doctrines and others like them, and so the school came to be called by the name of him who was the father of that doctrine.
I myself, at the outset, longing in this way to consort with one of these schools, gave myself over to a certain Stoic. After spending a considerable time with him, when I had gained nothing further concerning God—for he himself did not know, nor did he say that such instruction was necessary—I parted from him and went to another, called a Peripatetic, a shrewd man, as he thought himself. After putting up with me for the first few days, he then asked me to settle on a fee, so that our association should not be unprofitable to us. For this very reason I left him too, judging him to be no philosopher at all.
But since my soul was still yearning to hear what is proper and distinctive in philosophy, I went to a Pythagorean of great repute, a man who prided himself much on his wisdom. And then, when I had spoken with him, wishing to become his hearer and disciple, he said: 'Well now? Have you studied music and astronomy and geometry? Or do you suppose you will perceive any of the things that lead to happiness, unless you are first taught these subjects, which draw the soul away from the things of sense and make it fit for the things of the mind, so that it may behold the beautiful itself and the good as it truly is?'
And after praising these studies at length and declaring them necessary, he sent me away, since I had confessed to him that I did not know them. So I was distressed, as was natural, having failed of my hope, and the more so because I had thought him to possess some real knowledge. Then again, reckoning the time I would have to wear away over those subjects, I could not endure to put things off so long.
While I was at a loss, it occurred to me to consult the Platonists too, for their fame also was great. And so I spent a great deal of time with an intelligent man, eminent among the Platonists, who had recently settled in our city; and I made progress and advanced as much as possible every day. The perception of incorporeal things took strong hold of me, and the contemplation of the Ideas gave wings to my understanding; and within a little while I supposed I had become wise, and in my foolishness I hoped presently to behold God—for this is the goal of Plato's philosophy.