--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Faction is the greatest evil and the most…" description: "\"Faction is the greatest evil and the most common danger. \"Faction\" is the conventional English translation of the Greek stasis, one of the most remarka..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg" --- # Faction is the greatest evil and the most common danger… ![“Faction is the greatest evil and the most common danger. "Faction" is the conventional English translation of the Greek stasis, one of the most remarkable words to be found in any language.” quote by Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg) > “Faction is the greatest evil and the most common danger. "Faction" is the conventional English translation of the Greek stasis, one of the most remarkable words to be found in any language.” [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage warns that internal divisions (faction) are a greater threat than external enemies, as they erode unity and stability. **In simple terms:** Internal conflict is more dangerous than outside threats. Key Takeaway Prioritize unity over partisan disputes. Themes politics conflict unity danger social cohesion Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - government bodies - corporate boards - community groups - families - international alliances Key Concepts stasis political theory social fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms can reduce factionalism? - How does external pressure affect internal divisions? A Different Perspective In some contexts, external threats can galvanize unity, reducing the impact of faction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Conventional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conventional/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Danger Faction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger-faction-2621623/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Faction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faction/) [Faction Conventional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faction-conventional-2621621/) [Faction Greatest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faction-greatest-2621622/) [Factions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/factions/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Greatest Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-evil-543098/) [Greek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greek/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Remarkable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remarkable/) [Stasis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stasis/) [Translations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translations/) ## Related quotes > [Pleasure, or wrong or rightly understood, Our greatest evil, or our greatest good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/pleasure-or-wrong-or-rightly-understood-our-greatest-evil-or-our/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Death is the greatest evil, because it cuts off hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/death-is-the-greatest-evil-because-it-cuts-off-hope/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The greatest evil that can befall man is that he should come to think ill of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-greatest-evil-that-can-befall-man-is-that-he-should-come-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of "Admin." The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-live-in-the-managerial-age-in-a-world-of-admin-the-greatest-evil-is/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/no-one-knows-whether-death-which-people-fear-to-be-the-greatest-evil/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [The greatest evil that one has to fight constantly, every minute of the day until one dies, is the worst part of oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-mcgoohan/the-greatest-evil-that-one-has-to-fight-constantly-every-minute-of/) [Patrick McGoohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-mcgoohan/) > [The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling or being unwanted, uncared for, deserted by everybody. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/the-biggest-disease-today-is-not-leprosy-or-cancer-or-tuberculosis/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [“the greatest evil perpetrated is the evil committed by nobodies, that is, by human beings who refuse to be persons”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greatest-evil-perpetrated-is-the-evil-committed-by-nobodies-that/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Let me ask you a question Alex. What do you think is the greatest evil on this plant today?" "Is that including, or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/let-me-ask-you-a-question-alex-what-do-you-think-is-the-greatest-evil/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [“Hope is the greatest gift and the greatest evil...Hope saved us and hope might yet kill us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/hope-is-the-greatest-gift-and-the-greatest-evil-hope-saved-us-and/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [Duty is but a pot. It holds whatever is put in it, from the greatest evil to the greatest good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/duty-is-but-a-pot-it-holds-whatever-is-put-in-it-from-the-greatest/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [No man can be brave who thinks pain the greatest evil; nor temperate, who considers pleasure the highest good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/no-man-can-be-brave-who-thinks-pain-the-greatest-evil-nor-temperate/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loved to paint ... but is conceived and ordered (moved,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-greatest-evil-is-not-done-in-those-sordid-dens-of-evil-that/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I do not believe I have any immortality. The greatest evil in the world today is the Christian religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/i-do-not-believe-i-have-any-immortality-the-greatest-evil-in-the/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [wherever you find the greatest good, you will find the greatest evil, because evil loves paradise as much as good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wherever-you-find-the-greatest-good-you-will-find-the-greatest-evil/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More by Moses Finley > [Knowledge for its own sake was meaningless, its mere accumulation a waste of time. Knowledge must lead to understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/knowledge-for-its-own-sake-was-meaningless-its-mere-accumulation-a/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [Historical explanation is not identical with moral judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/historical-explanation-is-not-identical-with-moral-judgment/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [We must consider not only why the classical theory of democracy appears to be in contradiction with the observed practice, but also why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/we-must-consider-not-only-why-the-classical-theory-of-democracy/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [Political leaders, lacking documents that could be kept secret (apart from the occasional exception), lacking media they could control, were of necessity brought into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/political-leaders-lacking-documents-that-could-be-kept-secret-apart/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [A genuinely political society, in which discussion and debate are an essential technique, is a society full of risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/a-genuinely-political-society-in-which-discussion-and-debate-are-an/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [Ideal goals are a menace in themselves, as much in more modern philosophers as in Plato.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/ideal-goals-are-a-menace-in-themselves-as-much-in-more-modern/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [What I am arguing, in effect, is that the full democratic system of the second half of the fifth century B.C. would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/what-i-am-arguing-in-effect-is-that-the-full-democratic-system-of-the/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [Perhaps the best known, and certainly the most vaunted, "discovery" of modern public opinion research is the indifference and ignorance of a majority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/perhaps-the-best-known-and-certainly-the-most-vaunted-discovery-of/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [man is by nature designed to live in the polis, the highest form of koinonia, community; that is man's end or goal if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/man-is-by-nature-designed-to-live-in-the-polis-the-highest-form-of/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [In the western world today everyone is a democrat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/in-the-western-world-today-everyone-is-a-democrat/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [If I had to choose one which best characterized the condition of being a political leader in Athens, the word would be "tension".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/if-i-had-to-choose-one-which-best-characterized-the-condition-of/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) > [It is a mark of civilised man that he seeks to understand his traditions, and to criticise them, not to swallow them whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/it-is-a-mark-of-civilised-man-that-he-seeks-to-understand-his/) [Moses Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) [Explore all 13 Moses Finley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/) ## More Common quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) [Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Faction is the greatest evil and the most common danger. \"Faction\" is the conventional English translation of the Greek stasis, one of the most remarkable words to be found in any language.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Moses Finley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-most-common-danger-faction-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-most-common-danger-faction-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/moses-finley-35513_common_faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-mos_1876260.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Faction is the greatest evil and the most common danger. \"Faction\" is the conventional English translation…” — Moses Finley", "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": "Moses Finley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-finley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Faction is the greatest evil and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-most-common-danger-faction-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-finley/faction-is-the-greatest-evil-and-the-most-common-danger-faction-is/#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 } } ] } ```