Cleisthenes

"The strength of Athens lies not in its walls, but in the participation of its people."

"A law that the people themselves have shaped is a law they will defend."

"Wisdom begins when we admit that no single person should rule all others."

"The marketplace of ideas flourishes only when all are free to speak."

"Those who fear the people's judgment have much to hide."

"I have not created perfection, but I have created possibility."

"The measure of a statesman is whether he makes himself unnecessary."

"To distribute the votes is to distribute the power; both must reach every hand."

"The courage to change oneself is greater than the courage to change others."

"In reorganizing the tribes, I reorganized the very spirit of Athens."

"A government that fears its own people is a government that should be feared."

"The wealthy will always have advantages, but the law must not be one of them."

"Democracy requires that we trust the judgment of many rather than the wisdom of one."

"When the people rule themselves, they are both king and servant."

"The true enemy of democracy is not tyranny itself, but the acceptance of tyranny."

"I have given Athens a gift; what she does with it will determine her future."

"Power shared is power preserved; power hoarded is power lost."

"To ostracize a man for his ambition is to teach ambition its place in a democracy."

"The institutions we build outlast the hands that build them."

"A citizen educated in law is a citizen prepared for freedom."

"Tyranny dies not by violence, but by the irrelevance it creates."

"The alphabet of democracy must be learned by every citizen, not merely recited."

"When all have a voice, all share responsibility for what is spoken."

"The ancient ways bind us to inequality; reform binds us to our nature."

"A society that votes together might disagree, but it will not tear itself apart."

"The lottery in governance is not luck, but the distribution of burden equally."

"To reform is not to destroy the old, but to rebuild it on firmer ground."

"Power without accountability is not power at all; it is mere violence sanctioned by law."

"The freedom to fail is as important as the freedom to succeed."

"When we strip a man of his rights, we strip ourselves of our own."