The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. ...This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Tyrants often start as popular champions who gain too much trust and power.
- In plain terms
- Dictators begin as heroes the people trust too much.
- What can you take from it?
- Watch out when a protector becomes too powerful.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does protection become control?
- How do you spot a future tyrant?
Another view
Protective leadership can stabilize society before risks arise.
More from Plato
Democracy passes into despotism.
Permalink to quote #41 When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other,…
Permalink to quote #43 Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequaled alike.
Permalink to quote #40
Related quotes
All those [management] people are hypocrites and idiots.
Carl EverettCarl Everett quote #3 All political power is a trust.
Charles James FoxCharles James Fox quote #4 Your President is now the Tribune of the people, and, thank God, I am, and intend to assert the power which the people have placed in me... Tyranny and despoti…
Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson quote #11