 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Democracy arose in opposition to aristocracy, which itself had arisen in opposition to monarchy. Aristocracy, in most Greek city-states, was defeated by democracy, but democracy itself, as a rule, gave way to tyranny. . He generally made himself the champion of the people against aristocrats and plutocrats, and when he acquired sufficient popularity he represented that his enemies were plotting to assassinate him and that he needed a bodyguard if his life was to be preserved. When once he had got the bodyguard, he only had to favour the men who composed it, and the people were forgotten.
Source: What is Democracy? 1953
Reprinted in: Fact and Fiction, 1950
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