Aristotle Quotes About Tyranny
-
No tyrant need fear till men begin to feel confident in each other.
→ -
These, then, are the four kinds of royalty. First the monarchy of the heroic ages; this was exercised over voluntary subjects, but limited to certain functions; the king was a general and a judge, and had the control of religion The second is that of the barbarians, which is a hereditary despotic government in accordance with law. A third is the power of the so-called Aesynmete or Dictator; this is an elective tyranny. The fourth is the Lacedaemonian, which is in fact a generalship, hereditary and perpetual.
→ -
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.
→ -
Just as a royal rule, if not a mere name, must exist by virtue of some great personal superiority in the king, so tyranny, which is the worst of governments, is necessarily the farthest removed from a well-constituted form; oligarchy is little better, for it is a long way from aristocracy, and democracy is the most tolerable of the three.
→ -
The right constitutions, three in number- kingship, aristocracy, and polity- and the deviations from these, likewise three in number - tyranny from kingship, oligarchy from aristocracy, democracy from polity.
→ -
The perversions are as follows: of royalty, tyranny; of aristocracy, oligarchy; of constitutional government, democracy.
→ -
Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyranny.
→ -
Of old, the demagogue was also a general, and then democracies changed into tyrannies. Most of the ancient tyrants were originally demagogues. They are not so now, but they were then; and the reason is that they were generals and not orators, for oratory had not yet come into fashion.
→ -
It is not easy for a person to do any great harm when his tenure of office is short, whereas long possession begets tyranny.
→ -
A king ruleth as he ought, a tyrant as he lists, a king to the profit of all, a tyrant only to please a few.
→ -
In the Laws it is maintained that the best constitution is made up of democracy and tyranny, which are either not constitutions at all, or are the worst of all. But they are nearer the truth who combine many forms; for the constitution is better which is made up of more numerous elements. The constitution proposed in the Laws has no element of monarchy at all; it is nothing but oligarchy and democracy, leaning rather to oligarchy.
→
Related Authors
-
Alexander the Great Military Commander -
Ptolemy Writer -
Hippocrates Greek physician -
Albert Einstein Theoretical Physicist -
Immanuel Kant Philosopher -
Archimedes Mathematician -
Aristophanes Playwright -
Epicurus Philosopher -
Herodotus Historian -
Thomas Aquinas Priest -
Nicolaus Copernicus Mathematician -
Rene Descartes Philosopher -
Democritus Philosopher -
Pythagoras Philosopher -
Socrates Philosopher -
Isaac Newton Physicist -
Plato Philosopher -
Thales Philosopher -
Saint Augustine Saint -
Galileo Galilei Physicist