Quote by Edith Hamilton
What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them, and with this as the foremost object ideas of freedom and self-reliance and service to the community were obscured to the point of disappearing. Athens was more and more looked on as a co-operative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share. Athens had reached the point of rejecting independence, and the freedom she now wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of a life that was self-dependent and also responsible for the common good, they would cease to be free at all. Responsibility was the price every man must pay for freedom. It was to be had on no other terms.
Summary
This quote highlights the danger of prioritizing a comfortable life over ideals of freedom, self-reliance, and community service. In this context, Athens is portrayed as a society that desired material wealth and collective ownership at the expense of individual independence and accountability. The quote suggests that by shirking the responsibility that comes with freedom, people ultimately forfeit their liberty altogether. It reminds us that true freedom requires individuals to embrace the burden of self-dependency and collective well-being, as responsibility is the inseparable cost of maintaining a free and just society.
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