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The modern anxiety about popular participation in political life has a long history, but has taken a distinctive form. Greek city-states were plagued by civil war between oligarchs and democrats; the last hundred years of the Roman Republic were marked by conflicts between populares and optimates, the (proclaimed) defenders of the interests of the people and the upper classes.

— Alan Ryan On Politics: A History of Political Thought: From Herodotus to the Present (2012)

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More quotes by Alan Ryan

Justice is a virtue, but not one that makes people lovable.

Justice (1993)

From Machiavelli to the present, thinkers have distinguished between the adept elite and the incompetent many. We may think that anyone who draws such a distinction and in such terms can be no friend to democracy; that is not true.

On Politics: A History of Political Thought: From Herodotus to the Present (2012)

Justice is peculiarly stringent. Its demands may not be modified. Judges and rulers must 'do justice though the heavens fall', not allow family connections, friendship, or even personal worth to turn them aside.

Justice (1993)

We are very attached to describing ourselves as the Greeks described themselves; try persuading a friend that the United States is not really a democracy. But it is not clear that their ideals, and ambitions, and the assumptions embodied in that vocabulary, or the views on the best way to govern ourselves of those who created that vocabulary, make much sense in a world as different as ours.

On Politics: A History of Political Thought: From Herodotus to the Present (2012)

The one thing we can say is that if Socrates really expected to get a definitive answer to his question, 'What is justice?' when talking to his friends on their way back to the Piraeus, he has been disappointed. It remains a contentious and disputed subject.

Justice (1993)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Alan Ryan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.