Plato
translated by Prof. Dr. Erwin Theodor Rosenthal
“When teachers, instead of leading their students with a firm hand along the right path, feel intimidated before them and marvel at the contempt the pupils show them; when the inexperienced dare to place themselves on a par with their elders and betters, confronting them in words and deeds, while the old mingle with the young in order to win easy favor, ignoring or even taking part in their misdeeds so as to appear neither doddering nor authoritarian; when the young, diverted from their proper course, feel constrained and rebel against the most elementary obligations, since no one ever taught them to obey those precepts without which there can be no social coexistence, then the utmost caution is called for: tyranny is knocking at the door.” (Politeia, Plato, circa 400 B.C.)
