Definitions HQ

Politics (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠where the ignorant rush before they have been educated, and most of the city's politicians keep them company.

Politics (n.) as ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠most cities practise it is people fighting over shadows and struggling to rule, as if ruling were a great good — rule by dreamers, not by the awake.

Politics (n.) can't ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be done without friends and loyal followers; the older Plato grew, the more he saw how hard it is to run a city rightly.

Politics (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠truly practiced by almost no one; Socrates claims to be the only one of his day, because his speeches aim at what is best, not at what pleases.

Politics (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not feeding and breeding but weaving, in Plato's Statesman: binding contrary virtues and temperaments with the shuttle of opinion into the finest of fabrics.