I do not suggest that the Greek City States were perfect; they had their own short-comings and blemishes. Who can defend their system of slavery, for example? But, we must admit that, because of their harmonious and peaceful common life, they and especially Athens, developed into the dynamic nurseries of European thought and culture. As Prof. Delisle Burns points out, Athenian life and liberty were productive. “Indeed, the history of Athens is more concerned with artists, poets, philosophers than has been the history of any other city. No other people have ever produced in so short a time such great achievementsin architecture, sculpture, drama and philosophy.[51]
