Socrates: Do you think the one who had gotten out of the cave would still envy those within the cave and would want to compete with them who are esteemed and who have power? Or would not he much rather wish for the condition that Homer speaks of, namely “to live on the land [above ground] as the paid menial of another destitute peasant”? Wouldn’t he prefer to put up with absolutely anything else rather than associate with those opinions that hold in the cave and be that kind of human being? Glaucon: I think that he would prefer to endure everything rather than be that kind of human being.
