Sublime

Le retrait de Socrate n'est donc pas celui du philosophe qui ignore la vie de la cité, mais celui de l'homme juste qui a le courage et l'inflexibilité d'un soldat de la vertu, qui ne se soustrait jamais à son devoir, mais qui refuse de se compromettre dans une vie publique corrompue. Il relève d'une éthique héroïque conduisant à accepter sans

There was hardly a citizen who was not called upon twice in his life to be a senator. Then for a year he sat every day from morning till evening, receiving the depositions of magistrates, demanding their accounts, replying to foreign ambassadors, drawing up instructions for Athenian ambassadors, examining into all affairs that were to be submitted

The first duty is to sacrifice to the gods and pray them to grant you the thoughts, words, and deeds likely to render your command most pleasing to the gods and to bring yourself, your friends, and your city the fullest measure of affection and glory and advantage. –Xenophon, The Cavalry Commander

Athenians were not rational at all, merely selfish and shrewd. What guided their decisions was their base emotions—hunger for power, attention, and money. And for those purposes they could be very tactical and clever, but none of their maneuvers led to anything that lasted or served the overall interests of the democracy.

According to Diogenes, early Western philosophy had two separate branches.1 One branch—he calls it the Italian branch—began with Pythagoras. If we follow through the various successors of Pythagoras, we ultimately come to Epicurus, whose own school of philosophy was a major rival to the Stoic school. The other branch—Diogenes calls it the Ionian

Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War

How inconceivable too, that he should make the citizens worse when he has to live with them. This surely cannot be intentional; and if unintentional, he ought to have been instructed by Meletus, and not accused in the court.