Full Idea
Socrates thought that the virtues were all forms of knowledge, and therefore once a man knew justice, he would be a just man.
Gist of Idea
For Socrates, virtues are forms of knowledge, so knowing justice produces justice
Source
report of Socrates (reports of career [c.420 BCE]) by Aristotle - Eudemian Ethics 1216b07
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Eudemian Ethics I,II and VIII', ed/tr. Woods,Michael [OUP 1992], p.6
A Reaction
The clearest possible statement of Socrates' intellectualism. Aristotle rejected the Socrates view, but I find it sympathetic. Smokers who don't want to die seem to be in denial. To see the victims is to condemn the crime.