It is a mark of civilised man that he seeks to understand his traditions, and to criticise them, not to swallow them whole.

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

Historical explanation is not identical with moral judgment.

It is a mark of civilised man that he seeks to understand his traditions, and to criticise them, not to swallow them whole.

Knowledge for its own sake was meaningless, its mere accumulation a waste of time. Knowledge must lead to understanding.

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 been introduced had there been no Athenian empire.

In the western world today everyone is a democrat.