Themistocles Quotes
I never learned how to tune a harp, or play upon a lute; but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable city to glory and greatness.
Themistocles, c 525-c. 460 BC, Athenian naval commander and statesman, Quoted by Plutarch, Lives
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
For example,
the greatest of our Presidents were the ones who led the nation at times of great danger and threat.
Agar’s books were favorites of John F. Kennedy who got the idea for Profiles in Courage from a courageous political story that Agar had written. But Kennedy in his 1960 Presidential campaign against Nixon used this Title as a Campaign Slogan. Norman Rockwell had created a wonderful political painting for a Kennedy campaign poster. The title of the Painting was “A Time of Greatness”
Themistocles (/θəˈmɪstəkliːz/; Greek: Θεμιστοκλῆς [tʰemistoklɛ̂ːs]; "Glory of the Law"; c. 524–459 BC) was an Athenian politician and general. He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy. As a politician, Themistocles was a populist, having the support of lower-class Athenians, and generally being at odds with the Athenian nobility. Elected archon in 493 BC, he convinced the polis to increase the naval power of Athens, a recurring theme in his political career. During the first Persian invasion of Greece he fought at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) and was possibly one of the ten Athenian strategoi (generals) in that battle.
