Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.

ὡς ὅπου οἱ μὲν πολλὰ σφόδρα κέκτηνται οἱ δὲ μηθέν, ἢ δῆμος ἔσχατος γίγνεται ἢ ὀλιγαρχία ἄκρατος, ἢ τυραννὶς δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς ὑπερβολάς:

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Original Citation

Aristotle. Politics. 350 BC, bk. 4, 1296a 1-3.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Politics. Translated by Sir Ernest Barker and R. F. Barker Stalley. Oxford UP, 2009, bk. 4, 1296a, l. 1-3.