Once you see that in Athens the moral philosopher presented himself as a physician for the soul, a lot comes into focus. "Physician heal thyself" reminds us that we Morals Tutors are as sick as those we seek to heal. "Pharmakon," meaning both remedy and homeopathic poison reminds us that in seeking to heal, our words may injure. "First do no harm" reminds us to be careful of the client's well-being but also of our own. God forbid we heal the client and get crucified for our trouble. (Adapted from Plutarch's Life of Alexander The Great in which the best counselors and physicians serving Alexander are, variously, rewarded, speared, ignored, crucified, or too scared to do their job.) We cannot heal the morally diseased client, if we ourselves perish in the process. So I tell myself, but our noble trade has its own inherent risks; we cannot always heal others without breaking our patient's skin, or risking our own.
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