A-Level Classics - Athenian Democracy Quotations

"I will speak first about our ancestors, for it is right and proper"

tHotPW

"handed down from generation to generation, and by their courage, has been given to us as a free state"

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" passed this great empire to us, their sons"

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"by what efforts we rose to power, and under what governance and which ways of life did our empire become great"

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"we are a model to thers than imitators"

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"it favours the majority, instead of the few"

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"laws, they provide equal justice to all in their personal disputes"

tHotPW

"(laws) recognise worthiness so that if one citizen is particularly distinguished, the majority does not honour him because of his social class, but because of his virtue"

tHotPW

"we live freely not only in government, but also in our everyday lives"

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"we do not feel jealousy towards each other"

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"fear of public transgression makes us revereny and obedient to the authorities and the laws themselves"

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'established public contests and sacrifices throughout the year'

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'all the fruits of the earth are imported into our city'

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'we differ to our enemies in our attention to military training'

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'Spartans do not entre Attica alone, but rather with the aid of all their allies'

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'rivals have never yet experienced the full force of our allied military strength'

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'our city is equally distinguished, both in war and peace'

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'we are lovers of beauty, yet economical in taste'

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'we use our wealth for action'

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'we are all sound judges of policy'

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'in good deeds, we are again unline others'

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'we build friendships out of co-operation'

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'I say that our city is an education to Greece'

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'both now and in the future, we shall be admired'

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'our daring spirit'

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'none of these men allowed wealth and its prospect of future pleasure to discourage their spirits'

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'chose to die resisting rather than live in submission'

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'the lower classes had been deprived of the very little they owned'

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'with the typical inconsistency of a crowd, they elected him (Pericles) general'

tHotPW

'during peacetime, he (Pericles) had ruled moderately and steadfastly'

tHotPW

'Athens had been safe under his (Pericles) leadership'

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'after his death, his foresight was appreciated even more than when he was alive'

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'Pericles derived his authority from his high reputation and intelligence, while he was also clearly incorruptible'

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'he did not seek power by dishonest means'

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'Athens, although a democracy in name, was in fact ruled by its first citizen'

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'despite losing most of their fleet and other forces in Sicily, and were now distracted by revolution'

tHotPW

'(philosopher rulers have) honesty, and never being willing to accept anything other than the truth'

Plato - Republic

'could a lover of wisdom and lover of lies have the same nature?'

Plato - Republic

'This kind of man is self-disciplined and not at all greedy with his money'

Plato - Republic

'it would appear that a cowardly and narrow-minded nature contains no true philosophy'

Plato - Republic

'is there any way at all that someone who isn't reckless, uniinterested in money, nor boastful or cowardly turn into someone who could drive hard bargains or act unujustly'

Plato - Republic

'we might also say that an unrefined and ill-formed nature could lead to nowhere but disorder'

Plato - Republic

'"do you think the truth is similar to order or to disorder?" "Order, of course"'

Plato - Republic

'ship's owner who is bigger and stronger than everyone else, but a bit hard of hearing and short sighted'

Plato - Republic

'crew are completely at odds with ech other about how to steer the ship'

Plato - Republic

'each one (crew) thinks he should be captain, despite never having been taught how'

Plato - Republic

'They (crew) are always crowding around the ship's owner, begging'

Plato - Republic

'they either kill the others or throw them overboard'

Plato - Republic

'after binding and subduing their noble leader... they take charge of the ship'

Plato - Republic

'they drink the ship dry and gorge themselves on all the provisions'

Plato - Republic

'they also praise to the skies the men who contribute towards subduing or persuading the helmsmen to give over his power'

Plato - Republic

'they have no idea what it is to be a true captain'

Plato - Republic

'the true helmsman would be referred to as a lazy, useless star-gazer by the crew'

Plato - Republic

'finest philosophers' spirits are of no use to the masses'

Plato - Republic

'it isn't natural for a captain to beg his sailors to be commanded by him'

Plato - Republic

'the sick man should go to the doctor's door, whether he's rich or poor'

Plato - Republic

'everyonewho needs to be governed should go to the door of the man who can govern, who in turn shouldn't beg the people to be governed by him, if he's any good as a leader'

Plato - Republic

'you can't go too far wrong if you compare today's political leaders and these sailors we've been talking about'

Plato - Republic

'nastiest criticism of philosophy comes from thsoe who allege to follow that way of life, but do not'

Plato - Republic

'private fee-charging individuals, and whom the people call sophists'

Plato - Republic

'they (sophists) don't teach anything but the ordinary thoughts of the majority of ordinary people'

Plato - Republic

'he would not really know which of the creature's tastes and desires was admirable or shameful. good or bad, right or wrong'

Plato - Republic

'what it enjoyed was "good, andwhat had angered it was "bad. He wouldn'thave any other words to describe these things'

Plato - Republic

'he had never seen the full extent of the differences between the "good" and the "necessary"'

Plato - Republic

'Don't you think, by god, that this sort of man would make a very odd teacher'

Plato - Republic

'It allows the worst people to be better off than the good'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'it is right that the poor and the common people should have more power than the noble and the rich'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'helmsmen, boatswains, sub-boatswains, look-outs and shipbuilders giver far more strength to the city than the hoplites, the noble, and the good men'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'common people understand that it is better off for such decisions to be taken out of their hands and given to the most capable men'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'among the common people there is a plethora of ignorance, disorder and wickedness'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'poverty pushes them (common people) to do awful things'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'common people don't want a good government which makes them its slaves'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'if wealthy and good men are doing well, however, the memvers of the common people will create a strong opposition against them'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'the best people oppose democracy'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'the people there don't dress any better than the slaves or metics, and they certainly aren't any better looking!'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'common people at Athens have spoiled the athletics and musical activities because they though them "unfitting" because they know they can't do them!'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'law-courts, they are concerned with their own self-interest much more than actual justice'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'if the cities' rich and good men are strong, the common people's rule at Athens will be rather short-lived'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they strip the good men of their voting rights and money, exile them, and kill ethem'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they make their allies sail to Athens for court cases'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'every one of the allies has to flatter the entire Athenian population'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'justice for anyone coming to Atnes is in the hands of the population itslef - that's the law there'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'this (legal system) is how the allies have becomethe Athenians' slaves rather than their allies'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'common people get far more enjoyment out of these facilities than the rich uppoer-classes out of their own'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'common people live without fear and refuse to do likewise, as they know none of their property will be burnt of ravaged'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they deposit all their property on islands and, trusting their control of the sea, allow Attica to be ruined'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'I bleive that the common people in Athens recognise which citizens are good and which are bad'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they tend to l9ike those who are the easiest and most useful for them to like, even if they're bad'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they are also inclined to hat the good'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they think that the good are natturally virtuous to the detriment of the people, rather than for their benefit'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'I excuse the common people for their democracy - one must forgive the everyday man for looking after his own interests'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'I also realise that people object against the Athenians because sometimes it's impossible for someone to negotiate with the Council or the Assembly'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'they (council and assembly) have to deal with so many decisions, they cannot deal with everyone's business'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'is it any surprise at all that if they (council and assembly) have this much to deal with, they can't negotiate with absolutely everyone?'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'many things in Athens are accomplished with moeny, and even more would be accomplished if more people offered money!'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'the city just isn't able to deal with everyone who asks, no matter how much gold and silver you give them'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'magistrates also have to be scrutinished and have their disputes settles, orphans have to be approved and prison guards appointed'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'Athenians must hold festivals, during which the courts are closed, and they hold twice as many festivals than anyone else'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'I deny that it is possible for Athens to conduct matters in any different way to how they do it now'

Old Oligarch - CotA

'it isn't easy to find a way which allows the democracy to keep going, whilst simultaneously providng better governance'

Old Oligarch - CotA