--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Athenian democracy suffered much from…" description: "\"The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations.\" — H. G. Wells" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/h-g-wells-1122_athenians_the-athenian-democracy-suffered-much-fro_3085936.png" --- # The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness… ![“The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations.” quote by H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/h-g-wells-1122_athenians_the-athenian-democracy-suffered-much-fro_3085936.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/h-g-wells-1122_athenians_the-athenian-democracy-suffered-much-fro_3085936.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/h-g-wells-1122_athenians_the-athenian-democracy-suffered-much-fro_3085936.png) > “The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations.” [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Patriotism that excludes others harms societies and leads to national decline. **In simple terms:** Narrow patriotism damages nations. Key Takeaway Cultivate inclusive civic values. Themes politics nationalism social cohesion Mood concerned reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - government policy - education curricula - community building Key Concepts civic responsibility identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance pride with openness? - What policies promote inclusive patriotism? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on loyalty can suppress dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Athenians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athenians/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) ## Related quotes > [“There Pericles says that the essence of the Athenian democracy is that any citizen, regardless of class or profession, should be able to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/there-pericles-says-that-the-essence-of-the-athenian-democracy-is/) [Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/) > [Campaign ads are the backbone of American democracy if American democracy suffered a gigantic spinal injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oliver/campaign-ads-are-the-backbone-of-american-democracy-if-american/) [John Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oliver/) > [I do not want India to rise on the ruin of other nations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-india-to-rise-on-the-ruin-of-other-nations/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The greatest and truest models for all oratorsis Demosthenes. One who has not studied deeply and constantly all the great speeches of the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-greatest-and-truest-models-for-all-oratorsis-demosthenes-one-who/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The wide difference between the two characters, the slowness and want of energy of the Spartans as contrasted with the dash and enterprise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/the-wide-difference-between-the-two-characters-the-slowness-and-want/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [ “It was about that time \[415 BCE\] that the poet Diagoras of Melos was proscribed for atheism, he having declared that the non-punishment of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-robertson/it-was-about-that-time-415-bce-that-the-poet-diagoras-of-melos-was/) J. M. Robertson > [Being summoned by the Athenians out of Sicily to plead for his life, Alcibiades absconded, saying that that criminal was a fool who studied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/being-summoned-by-the-athenians-out-of-sicily-to-plead-for-his-life/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/what-made-the-war-inevitable-was-the-growth-of-athenian-power-and-the/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Eloquence, when at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection; but addressing itself entirely to the fancy or the affections, captivates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/eloquence-when-at-its-highest-pitch-leaves-little-room-for-reason-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/the-growth-of-the-power-of-athens-and-the-alarm-which-this-inspired/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Eutrapelia . "A happy and gracious flexibility," Pericles calls this quality of the Athenians...lucidity of thought, clearness and propriety of language, freedom from prejudice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/eutrapelia-a-happy-and-gracious-flexibility-pericles-calls-this/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Demosthenes told Phocion, "The Athenians will kill you some day when they once are in a rage." "And you," said he, "if they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/demosthenes-told-phocion-the-athenians-will-kill-you-some-day-when/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [ Everyone, including the Athenians \[...\] are right to accept advice from anyone, since it is incumbent on everyone to share in that sort of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/protagoras/everyone-including-the-athenians-are-right-to-accept-advice-from/) [Protagoras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/protagoras/) > [The great thing about writing about the ancient Spartans or Athenians is that so much knowledge is no longer extant that no one, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-great-thing-about-writing-about-the-ancient-spartans-or-athenians/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“The revolt in Asia Minor was snugged out in 494, and the Athenians realized that they had acquired a dangerous enemy. Darius I's first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ryan/the-revolt-in-asia-minor-was-snugged-out-in-494-and-the-athenians/) [Alan Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ryan/) ## More by H. G. Wells > [... life falls into place only with God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/life-falls-into-place-only-with-god/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Fools make researches and wise men exploit them - that is our earthly way of dealing with the question, and we thank Heaven for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/fools-make-researches-and-wise-men-exploit-them-that-is-our-earthly/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The true sweetness of chess, if it ever can be sweet, is to see a victory snatched, by some happy impertinence, out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-true-sweetness-of-chess-if-it-ever-can-be-sweet-is-to-see-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [A priest is a man vowed, trained, and consecrated, a man belonging to a special corps, and necessarily with an intense esprit de corps.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-priest-is-a-man-vowed-trained-and-consecrated-a-man-belonging-to-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The man who raises a fist has run out of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-man-who-raises-a-fist-has-run-out-of-ideas/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The choice is: the Universe...or nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-choice-is-the-universe-or-nothing/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [ The crisis \[the Great Depression\] discovered a great man in Franklin Roosevelt...None too soon he has carried America forward to the second stage of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-crisis-the-great-depression-discovered-a-great-man-in-franklin/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Non-violence is the policy of the vegetable kingdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/non-violence-is-the-policy-of-the-vegetable-kingdom/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [For all my desire to be interesting, I have to confess that for most things and people I don't give a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/for-all-my-desire-to-be-interesting-i-have-to-confess-that-for-most/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The Jews looked for a special savior, a messiah, who was to redeem mankind by the agreeable process of restoring the fabulous glories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-jews-looked-for-a-special-savior-a-messiah-who-was-to-redeem/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [“And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers—shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to witness that even when mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/and-i-have-by-me-for-my-comfort-two-strange-white-flowers-shrivelled/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [ \[A novel by Henry James\] is like a church lit but without a congregation to distract you, with every light and line focused on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-novel-by-henry-james-is-like-a-church-lit-but-without-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [In England we have come to rely upon a comfortable time-lag of fifty years or a century intervening between the perception that something ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/in-england-we-have-come-to-rely-upon-a-comfortable-time-lag-of-fifty/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [We must end war before war ends us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/we-must-end-war-before-war-ends-us/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [What good is religion if it collapses under calamity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/what-good-is-religion-if-it-collapses-under-calamity/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) [Explore all 280 H. G. Wells quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) ## More Athenians quotes > [“The revolt in Asia Minor was snugged out in 494, and the Athenians realized that they had acquired a dangerous enemy. Darius I's first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ryan/the-revolt-in-asia-minor-was-snugged-out-in-494-and-the-athenians/) [Alan Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ryan/) > [The great thing about writing about the ancient Spartans or Athenians is that so much knowledge is no longer extant that no one, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-great-thing-about-writing-about-the-ancient-spartans-or-athenians/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [ Everyone, including the Athenians \[...\] are right to accept advice from anyone, since it is incumbent on everyone to share in that sort of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/protagoras/everyone-including-the-athenians-are-right-to-accept-advice-from/) [Protagoras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/protagoras/) > [Demosthenes told Phocion, "The Athenians will kill you some day when they once are in a rage." "And you," said he, "if they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/demosthenes-told-phocion-the-athenians-will-kill-you-some-day-when/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Eutrapelia . "A happy and gracious flexibility," Pericles calls this quality of the Athenians...lucidity of thought, clearness and propriety of language, freedom from prejudice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/eutrapelia-a-happy-and-gracious-flexibility-pericles-calls-this/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/the-growth-of-the-power-of-athens-and-the-alarm-which-this-inspired/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Eloquence, when at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection; but addressing itself entirely to the fancy or the affections, captivates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/eloquence-when-at-its-highest-pitch-leaves-little-room-for-reason-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/what-made-the-war-inevitable-was-the-growth-of-athenian-power-and-the/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Being summoned by the Athenians out of Sicily to plead for his life, Alcibiades absconded, saying that that criminal was a fool who studied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/being-summoned-by-the-athenians-out-of-sicily-to-plead-for-his-life/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [ “It was about that time \[415 BCE\] that the poet Diagoras of Melos was proscribed for atheism, he having declared that the non-punishment of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-robertson/it-was-about-that-time-415-bce-that-the-poet-diagoras-of-melos-was/) J. M. Robertson > [The wide difference between the two characters, the slowness and want of energy of the Spartans as contrasted with the dash and enterprise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/the-wide-difference-between-the-two-characters-the-slowness-and-want/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [The greatest and truest models for all oratorsis Demosthenes. One who has not studied deeply and constantly all the great speeches of the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-greatest-and-truest-models-for-all-oratorsis-demosthenes-one-who/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/i-will-not-allow-the-athenians-to-sin-twice-against-philosophy/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [ \[Regarding legislative assemblies,\] the number ought at most to be kept within a certain limit, in order to avoid the confusion and intemperance of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/regarding-legislative-assemblies-the-number-ought-at-most-to-be-kept/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [The Athenians are right to accept advice from anyone, since it is incumbent on everyone to share in that sort of excellence, or else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/protagoras/the-athenians-are-right-to-accept-advice-from-anyone-since-it-is/) [Protagoras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/protagoras/) [Browse all 53 Athenians quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athenians/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. 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