It was not his desire for a breath of air that saved him from drowning—if Socrates had not pulled him up, he would have died, no matter how much he wanted it. His desire had absolutely nothing to do with his “success”—it depended entirely on the one who shoved him underwater in the first place deciding to let him live.

Of course, Socrates couldn’t see that, because he wasn’t drowning himself. He probably thought he was very, very clever, though.