“ for a state is not the growth of a day, any more than it grows out of a multitude brought together by accident. ”
Aristotle, Politics (4th century BC). copy citation
| Author | Aristotle |
|---|---|
| Source | Politics |
| Topic | growth accident |
| Date | 4th century BC |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Benjamin Jowett |
| Weblink | http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html |
Context
“at Ambracia, for instance, the qualification for office, small at first, was eventually reduced to nothing. For the Ambraciots thought that a small qualification was much the same as none at all.
Another cause of revolution is difference of races which do not at once acquire a common spirit; for a state is not the growth of a day, any more than it grows out of a multitude brought together by accident. Hence the reception of strangers in colonies, either at the time of their foundation or afterwards, has generally produced revolution; for example, the Achaeans who joined the Troezenians in the foundation of Sybaris, becoming later the more numerous, expelled them;”
source
