--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A demagogue must be neither an educated…" description: "\"A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man; he has to be an ignoramus and a rogue.\" — Aristophanes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png" --- # A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man… ![“A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man; he has to be an ignoramus and a rogue.” quote by Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png) > “A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man; he has to be an ignoramus and a rogue.” [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A demagogue must be ignorant and dishonest, lacking education and integrity. **In simple terms:** Demagogues are uneducated and dishonest. Key Takeaway Beware charismatic but unqualified leaders. Themes politics leadership ethics Mood cautious critical Type political satirical When to use this quote - elections - public debates - media commentary Key Concepts demagoguery integrity education Questions to Reflect On - What traits reveal a true demagogue? - How can societies guard against them? A Different Perspective Charisma can mask incompetence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Demagogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demagogue/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Rogues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rogues/) ## Related quotes > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) > [ \[Y\]ou possess all the attributes of a demagogue; a screeching, horrible voice, a perverse, crossgrained nature and the language of the market-place. In you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/y-ou-possess-all-the-attributes-of-a-demagogue-a-screeching-horrible/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Onscreen, Foaly rubbed his eyelids with his index fingers. "Yeah, yeah. Here we go. Captain Short goes rogue once more. Hands up who's surprised.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/onscreen-foaly-rubbed-his-eyelids-with-his-index-fingers-yeah-yeah/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [For every inch that is not fool, is rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/for-every-inch-that-is-not-fool-is-rogue/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner who runs well for the first half of the course, but flags…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/is-it-not-true-that-the-clever-rogue-is-like-the-runner-who-runs-well/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [A rich man without charity is a rogue; and perhaps it would be no difficult matter to prove that he is also a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-rich-man-without-charity-is-a-rogue-and-perhaps-it-would-be-no/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [His calumny is not only the greatest benefit a rogue can confer on us, but the only service he will perform for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/his-calumny-is-not-only-the-greatest-benefit-a-rogue-can-confer-on-us/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-den-in-the-wide-world-to-hide-a-rogue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Put a rogue in the limelight and he will act like an honest man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/put-a-rogue-in-the-limelight-and-he-will-act-like-an-honest-man/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Who calls a lawyer rogue, may find, too lateUpon one of these depends his whole estate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-crabbe/who-calls-a-lawyer-rogue-may-find-too-lateupon-one-of-these-depends/) [George Crabbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-crabbe/) > [A process which makes one rogue cleverer than another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/a-process-which-makes-one-rogue-cleverer-than-another/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [You want stealth? Be a rogue in 'World of Warcraft'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-romero/you-want-stealth-be-a-rogue-in-world-of-warcraft/) [John Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-romero/) > [There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass. Commit a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-den-in-the-wide-world-to-hide-a-rogue-commit-a-crime-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [My own favorite is something called Rogue Male.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-toole/my-own-favorite-is-something-called-rogue-male/) [Peter O'Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-o-toole/) > [Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/time-is-the-only-test-of-honest-men-one-day-is-space-enough-to-know-a/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) ## More by Aristophanes > [If you strike upon a thought that baffles you, break off from that entanglement and try another, so shall your wits be fresh to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/if-you-strike-upon-a-thought-that-baffles-you-break-off-from-that/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [“LYSISTRATA By the Goddesses, you'll find that here await you Four companies of most pugnacious women Armed cap-a-pie from the topmost louring curl To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/lysistrata-by-the-goddesses-you-ll-find-that-here-await-you-four/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Thou shouldst not decide until thou hast heard what both have to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/thou-shouldst-not-decide-until-thou-hast-heard-what-both-have-to-say/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Only by being suspended aloft, by dangling my mind in the heavens and mingling my rare thought with the ethereal air, could I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/only-by-being-suspended-aloft-by-dangling-my-mind-in-the-heavens-and/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Old age is second childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/old-age-is-second-childhood/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Love is simply the name for the desire and the pursuit of the whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/love-is-simply-the-name-for-the-desire-and-the-pursuit-of-the-whole/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [ “You \[demagogues\] are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/you-demagogues-are-like-the-fishers-for-eels-in-still-waters-they/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Tis not for us to warn a wilful sinner; We stay him not, but let him run his course, Till by misfortunes rous'd, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/tis-not-for-us-to-warn-a-wilful-sinner-we-stay-him-not-but-let-him/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Women, you overheated dipsomaniacs, never passing up a chance to wangle a drink, a great boon to bartenders but a bane to us--not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/women-you-overheated-dipsomaniacs-never-passing-up-a-chance-to-wangle/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [“LYSISTRATA You know how to work. Play with him, lead him on, Seduce him to the cozening-point—kiss him, kiss him, Then slip your mouth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/lysistrata-you-know-how-to-work-play-with-him-lead-him-on-seduce-him/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [ \[Y\]ou \[man\] are fool enough, it seems, to dare to war with \[woman=\] me, when for your faithful ally you might win me easily. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/y-ou-man-are-fool-enough-it-seems-to-dare-to-war-with-woman-me-when/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [You cannot teach a crab to walk straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/you-cannot-teach-a-crab-to-walk-straight/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [How can I study from below, that which is above?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/how-can-i-study-from-below-that-which-is-above/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [First listen, my friend, and then you may shriek and bluster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/first-listen-my-friend-and-then-you-may-shriek-and-bluster/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [If a man owes me money, I never seem to forget. But if I do the owing, I somehow never remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/if-a-man-owes-me-money-i-never-seem-to-forget-but-if-i-do-the-owing-i/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) [Explore all 132 Aristophanes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) ## More Demagogue quotes > [. . . behind each breakaway movement is a breakaway demagogue who will set up his breakaway demagogue government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/behind-each-breakaway-movement-is-a-breakaway-demagogue-who-will-set/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so they believe they are clever as he.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-secret-of-the-demagogue-is-to-make-himself-as-stupid-as-his/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [But in his Farewell Address, George Washington made it clear that he perceived no greater threat to the American experiment than a partisan demagogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-avlon/but-in-his-farewell-address-george-washington-made-it-clear-that-he/) [John Avlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-avlon/) > [Do the day's work. If it be to protect the rights of the weak, whoever objects, do it. If it be to help a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/do-the-day-s-work-if-it-be-to-protect-the-rights-of-the-weak-whoever/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [The demagogue is usually sly,a detractor of others, a professor of humility and disinterestedness, a great stickler for equality as respects all above him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-demagogue-is-usually-sly-a-detractor-of-others-a-professor-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The art of politics, under democracy, is simply the art of ringing it. Two branches reveal themselves. There is the art of the demagogue,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-art-of-politics-under-democracy-is-simply-the-art-of-ringing-it/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Most of most politicians’ answers are long-winded implicit ways of saying: ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t want you to know’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-of-most-politicians-answers-are-long-winded-implicit-ways-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Let's destroy this young demagogue before he becomes another Ralph Nader. (about John Kerry)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon-2/let-s-destroy-this-young-demagogue-before-he-becomes-another-ralph/) [Richard M Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon-2/) > [Donald Trump is a demagogue. Period. The fervor of his crowds recalls Nasser's Egypt. His convictions are illiberal. His manners are disgusting. His temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-stephens/donald-trump-is-a-demagogue-period-the-fervor-of-his-crowds-recalls/) [Bret Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-stephens/) > [ \[Y\]ou possess all the attributes of a demagogue; a screeching, horrible voice, a perverse, crossgrained nature and the language of the market-place. In you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/y-ou-possess-all-the-attributes-of-a-demagogue-a-screeching-horrible/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [“There is only a one thing worse than an idiot: An idiot with a following.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narcissismus-decimus-maximus/there-is-only-a-one-thing-worse-than-an-idiot-an-idiot-with-a/) [Narcissismus Decimus Maximus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narcissismus-decimus-maximus/) > [We have passed the age of the demagogue, the man who has little to say and says it loud. We have come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/we-have-passed-the-age-of-the-demagogue-the-man-who-has-little-to-say/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“The secret of the demagogue is to appear as dumb as his audience so that these people can believe themselves as smart as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-zohn/the-secret-of-the-demagogue-is-to-appear-as-dumb-as-his-audience-so/) Harry Zohn > [Everyone wants to demagogue everyone else. That may be good politics, but it's awful policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-christie/everyone-wants-to-demagogue-everyone-else-that-may-be-good-politics/) [Chris Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-christie/) > [“Don't you know yet, he said, that an idle and selfish class loves to see mischief being made, even if it is made at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/don-t-you-know-yet-he-said-that-an-idle-and-selfish-class-loves-to/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Browse all 27 Demagogue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demagogue/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man; he has to be an ignoramus and a rogue.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aristophanes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated-nor-an-honest-man-he-has-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Demagogue" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated-nor-an-honest-man-he-has-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/aristophanes-3340_demagogue_a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated_2714202.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man; he has to be an ignoramus and a rogue.” — Aristophanes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Aristophanes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A demagogue must be neither an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated-nor-an-honest-man-he-has-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/a-demagogue-must-be-neither-an-educated-nor-an-honest-man-he-has-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```