Critias Quotes
Critias was an Athenian aristocrat, sophist, tragedian, and statesman of the late fifth century BC and the most prominent of the Thirty Tyrants who ruled Athens after the city's defeat in the Peloponnesian War. A pupil of Socrates, an uncle of Plato, and a relative of Solon, he wrote tragedies, elegies, and prose works of which only fragments survive. The quotes below are attributed to Critias, organized by topic.
Critias on God
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Attributed to Critias:
“Religion was invented by clever rulers to keep the wicked in fear of unseen witnesses.”
Critias on Knowledge
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Attributed to Critias:
“The wise person measures custom by reason, not the reverse.”
Critias on Politics
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Attributed to Critias:
“Civil war devours both victors and vanquished.”
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Attributed to Critias:
“Better the discipline of laws than the rule of any man's whim.”
Critias on Truth
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Attributed to Critias:
“What lies beyond evidence is the proper realm of doubt.”