[157c]
“And yet surely the others are not altogether deprived of the one, but they partake of it in a certain way.” “In what way?” “Because the others are other than the one by reason of having parts; for if they had no parts, they would be altogether one.” “True.” “But parts, we affirm, belong to that which is a whole.” “Yes, we affirm that they do.” “But the whole must be one composed of many and of this the parts are parts. For each of the parts must be a part, not of many, but of a whole.” “How is that?” “If anything is a part of many, and is itself one of the many, it will be a part of itself,
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by Harold N. Fowler. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925.
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