"for it is conflict combined with consent, not consent alone, which preserves democracy from eroding into oligarchy."

Moses I. Finley Economics See all quotes by Moses I. Finley →

React to this quote

More by Moses I. Finley

“A genuinely political society, in which discussion and debate are an essential technique, is a society full of risks.”

“In the western world today everyone is a democrat.”

“If I had to choose one which best characterized the condition of being a political leader in Athens, the word would be "tension.”

“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 achieves the full potentiality of his nature.”

“Perhaps the best known, and certainly the most vaunted, "discovery" of modern public opinion research is the indifference and ignorance of a majority of the electorate in western democracies.”

“Ideal goals are a menace in themselves, as much in more modern philosophers as in Plato.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Words are witnesses which often speak louder than documents. Let us consider a few English words, which were invented or gained their modern meanings, substantially in the period of sixty years with w…"

— Eric Hobsbawm

Politics1917–2012

#work

"Now the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next Monday…"

— Al Gore

Politics1948

#freedom

"I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who as…"

— Abraham Lincoln

Politics1744–1786

#freedom

"The beings of this world have been evolved. They have all been formed according to the same general plan, and filled with similar susceptibilities. No being or set of beings is so distinctive, or spec…"

— J. Howard Moore

Philosophy1862–1916

#philosophy