Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.
¶ (Attributed)
Alt. trans. "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics, is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
The Constitution Party (1952-68) used on their letterhead the variant, "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
Emerson paraphrased this as "Plato says that the punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is, to live under the government of worse men." ("Eloquence," Society and Solitude (1870)).
