Cleisthenes

"The fragments of pottery that cast votes are fragments of power returned to the people."

"To govern well requires that you first learn to govern poorly alongside others."

"The beauty of democratic process is that it corrects itself over time."

"I believed that talent and wisdom were distributed broadly, not concentrated in bloodlines."

"Remove the oligarch's ability to speak in one voice, and you have removed his power."

"The community that selects its leaders by chance learns to respect the capacity in all people."

"Ostracism without due process becomes tyranny itself; therefore, we created procedures."

"A city that fears the popularity of one man has already begun its reform."

"The redistribution of power must be gradual enough to be accepted, yet bold enough to be real."

"Those who resist reform resist the will of the many; time will prove them wrong."

"The Athenian state is an experiment; it may fail, but it will have been worth attempting."

"I created institutions that would outlive any single reformer—that was my true legacy."

"When power is dispersed, tyranny cannot establish itself, no matter how clever the tyrant."

"The farmer who votes in the assembly is as capable of governing as the aristocrat born to rule."

"Tradition binds men to the past; law binds men to justice."

"A constitution is only as strong as the people's commitment to defending it."

"I sought to create a system where a man's worth could be judged by his actions, not his ancestry."

"The secret to lasting reform is to make ordinary people believe they designed it themselves."

"When every citizen understands they might be selected to serve, service becomes an honor."

"Divide power as you would divide land—equally, so that none can claim dominion over all."

"The laws I reformed were but the foundation; the people must choose to live by them."

"Those who seek to restore oligarchy are enemies of both justice and Athens itself."

"A demagogue may speak to the passions of the people, but institutions speak to their reason."

"The mixing of classes in councils and assemblies erodes the false barriers that separate men."

"I did not give Athenians freedom—I removed the chains that bound it."

"A man stripped of power by ostracism learns what the powerless know always: life continues."

"The strength of a reformer lies not in his own virtue, but in the institutions he creates."

"When you reform the structure of power, you must also reform how men think about themselves."

"The assembly is not a place for the wisdom of the few, but the judgment of the many."

"I believed that justice was not a rare gift, but a capacity all citizens possessed."