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.

οὐκοῦν ἕνα τινὰ ἀεὶ δῆμος εἴωθεν διαφερόντως προΐστασθαι ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ τοῦτον τρέφειν τε καὶ αὔξειν μέγαν;

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

More information about this quote

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Original Citation

Plato. Republic. 380 BC, bk. 8, sect. 565c.

Current Citation

Plato. The Republic. Translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin, 2007, bk. 8, line 565c.