Lycophron Quotes
Lycophron was a Greek sophist and rhetorician of the late fifth and early fourth century BC, a pupil of Gorgias and one of the boldest political philosophers of the sophistic tradition. His writings have not survived, but his philosophical positions are preserved in the polemical reports of Aristotle's Politics and Rhetoric and in later ancient writers. The quotes below are attributed to Lycophron, organized by topic.
Lycophron on Nature
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Attributed to Lycophron:
“What is by nature the same in all men cannot be raised or lowered by accident of birth.”
Lycophron on Politics
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Attributed to Lycophron:
“The law is a covenant; it is the surety of mutual rights, but does not make the citizens good.”
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Attributed to Lycophron:
“Nobility is the splendor of antiquity, found in those who can boast a long line of ancestors.”
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Attributed to Lycophron:
“The state arises for the prevention of injustice, not for the perfection of the soul.”
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Attributed to Lycophron:
“He who claims more than the covenant grants him is the enemy of the city.”