 Another recurrent theme in Strauss’s work is what he calls “the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns.” Most specifically, the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns for Strauss is about the excesses of modern claims for the authoritative claims of reason and the philosophical moderation of the ancients. As we saw above, according to Strauss, the trajectory of modern philosophy’s demise begins with the belief that modern philosophy has refuted revelation once and for all. This false belief is based on an overreaching view of what philosophical reason alone can accomplish and it leads to the equally false belief that there are no rational standards because reason is always imbedded within and determined by history. Strauss contrasts Socrates’ moderation with the excess of modern philosophers. Socrates’ moderation is not merely a political concession, according to Strauss, but bears upon the question of how we come to truth: “Socrates implied that disregarding the opinions about the nature of things would amount to abandoning the most important access to reality which we have, or the most important vestiges of truth which are within our reach” (NRH, p. 124). But even though truth is within our reach, philosophy begins and ends with the quest for truth: “philosophy is meant—and that is the decisive point—not as a set of propositions, a teaching, or even a system, but as a way of life, a life animated by a peculiar passion, the philosophic desire, or eros; it is not understood as an instrument or a department of human self-realization” (NRH, p. 122). As a way of life, “the problems are always more evident than the solutions. All solutions are questionable… Therefore, the right way of life cannot be established metaphysically except by a completed metaphysics, and therefore the right way of life remains questionable” (NRH, pp. 122–123).