Aristocracy
Rule by the best, meaning the few who are most virtuous or able, as opposed to rule by one or by the many.
Works to read
- The American by Henry James, 1877
- The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, 1905
Passages
Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge
— William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
no one could say for certain, not even a native, whether the constitution as a whole were an aristocracy or democracy or despotism.
— Polybius, The Histories, Book VI
The Turkish women of these parts are very highly respected, particularly the wives of the nobles and kings. These women are religious, and prone to almsgiving and other good works.
— Ibn Battuta, The Travels of Ibn Battuta
when the brute lives, and is in the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a Norman, and is called pork, when she is carried to the Castle-hall to feast among the nobles
— Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
Passages are verified quotations from the library that use one of these words: aristocracy, aristocrats, nobility, nobles. Sentences under “From the texts” are copied word for word from the full texts in this library. Read each in its context on the work's page.