Athenians Quote by H. G. Wells

Greece gave democracy to the rest of the world.

— Alexis Tsipras

What bitter anguish would not the people of Athens have often escaped if their government had contained so provident a safeguard against tyranny of…

— Alexander Hamilton

“Athens, or Greece in general, was a virile world; like the Roman Empire. But I can't understand the idea that it is the greatest…

— Mwanandeke Kindembo

“The history of ancient Greece showed that, in a democracy, emotion dominates reason to a greater extent than in any other political system, thus…

— B.H. Liddell Hart

“Several times the ancient Greeks attempted to utilize democratic mass participation in governing their city-states, but each time it resulted in tyranny. As the…

— Ben Carson

The Greeks... labored under the delusion that their democracy was a guarantee of peace and plenty, not realizing that unrestrained majority rule always destroys…

— Henry Grady Weaver

“debatable today, as the structure could house the entire population of Athens, but could do nothing to protect their resources or withstand a long…

— Tom Simek

Athens' biggest worry was the sheer recklessness of its own democratic government. A simple majority of the citizenry, urged on and incensed by clever…

— Thucydides

“There Pericles says that the essence of the Athenian democracy is that any citizen, regardless of class or profession, should be able to take…

— Thomas McEvilley

In general, democracy and individualism have advanced in spite of and often against specific economic interest. Both democracy and individualism have been based upon…

— John Ralston Saul

That fact that Athens could condemn its noblest citizen to death did more than make a profound impression on him. It was to shape…

— Jostein Gaarder

Western societies from ancient Athens to imperial Rome to the French republic rarely collapsed because of a shortage of resources or because foreign enemies…

— Victor Davis Hanson