Selected quotes by Ioannis Metaxas

«We must subordinate our appetites, our passions and our egoism to the wholeness of the National interest. This way we will be a really free people, otherwise anarchy and indiscipline will reign over us under the false mask of freedom»

«Heroes never die; instead they fall, and the soil, by drinking their blood gives birth to them again…”»

“I believe it is impossible to make progress under the parliamentary system” 



“Venizelos and I invited you to look backwards to the past. Now i urge you to look forward to the future; and since you cannot live without ideals, the only suitable ideal is that of the Hellenic Idea. The Great idea (I Megali Idea) itself did not fail; only the attempt at its territorial implementation. The Greco-Byzantine perception of if has failed, but not its ancient classical form of Hellenism. Our [my] disagreement with Venizelos, in the final analysis, is over the understanding, the meaning, significance and form of the Hellenic Idea”

“The Greece which was born in 1821 is not my motherland, because as a Greek I belong to that race which existed before this motherland and which belonged to another, greater, motherland….I belong to that aristocracy which has been fighting for its King and for the State a long time before modern Greece was born.”



“Greece cannot exist socially if its society consists of unhappy and miserable people. The Greek people have reached such a point of degradation and indifference that they have endangered the fate of the Nation and the Country …Thus I repeat: Regeneration from a national point of view: because you cannot exist but as Greeks: as Greeks who believe in the power of Hellenism, and through it you can develop and create your own civilization.”

“In the depths of my soul, the Aristocratic ideas always exist”

“My children, in this world nothing is possible to be achieved without faith! Deep faith! Without deep faith it is impossible for a scientist to exist! Without deep faith it is impossible for an artist to exist! Without deep faith there is not a man who is able to create something. And the most common man, if he does not deeply believe in something, is unable to do something really great. As you understand, because you are well educated, faith excludes either rationality or discussion. The faith comes from the bowels of the soul and prevails, as the sunlight does, over all of your thoughts, over your souls, and it is impossible neither to be posed under discussion, nor to be subjected to the rational rules. Anyone who has not such feelings deep inside him, but what am I saying? All the people here have these feelings inside them. All the people have these emotions, and with these we start our lives”

[caption id="attachment_9193" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Propaganda poster of the "4th of August" regime[/caption]

“Let not our [Greek] previous civilisations intimidate you … You will perfect [the Hellenic Civilisation] … And you, modern Greeks, do you not have the ambition to create your own civilisation derived from these two other civilisations [ancient and medieval Greek]? Do you not like such a supreme ideal and a paramount objective?”

“Our new civilisation will not be concerned with extension but with intensity, not with the acquisition of territory but with the strength of our spirit”

“Democracy, the system of the ancient Athenian society, is characterised by mediocrity. The leaders of democratic regimes are only mediocre human beings, servants of the sovereign masses, while what societies need are superior beings to lead their nations. Democracy derives its strength from amorphous and misguided masses.”



“Culture is the work of a whole period of a whole people led by an inspirer (empsychoti) in whom it believes an who acts upon and influences all the agencies of state and society; he inspires and guides them directly and personally. Thus an independent ministry of culture cannot exist. Popular enlightenment, the education of the people, is conducted by many, if not all, the departments of the state; it is not the function of a particular or special ministry. The coordination and direction of all these departmental efforts is the responsibility of one individual among them who has the authority by virtue of his position and personality, and that person is the Chief or Head of the Government, the Leader, O Archigos. And this is how it is done now, and fortunately quite successfully. The work and activities of the several government departments are coordinated, and guided by the directions and spirit of the Chief (Kybernitis: Governor)”