[There can be no] rational administration of government when good men are held in the same esteem as bad ones.

Polybius

Polybius (ca. 203-120 BC) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220-146 BCE. He is also renowned for his ideas of political balance in the government, which was later used in Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws and the drafting of the United States Constitution

All Polybius quotes | Polybius Books