Solon
In 572 BCE, Solon, one of the most memorable Greek leaders before Pericles, retired after ruling for 22 years. When he came to power, he saved Greece from the brink of revolution and established (for the first time in Greek history) a law code that was not based in divinity. Once retired, he went on to visit and study the governments of the East. During his adventure, he uttered his famous phrase "I grow old while always learning". In his last years, he returned to Athens and saw the overturn of his constitution and the establishment of the dictatorship of Peisistratus.
Source: Durant, Will, 1885-1981, The Life of Greece: A history of Greek government, industry, manners, morals, religion, philosophy, science, literature and art from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. Simon and Schuster, 1939.
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!