Quite often good things have hurtful consequences. There are instances of men who have been ruined by their money or killed by their courage.
The life of children, as much as that of intemperate men, is wholly governed by their desires.
A very populous city can rarely, if ever, be well governed.
Democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers.
The democrats think that as they are equal they ought to be equal in all things.
Friends are much better tried in bad fortune than in good.
As often as we do good, we offer sacrifices to God.
That rule is the better which is exercised over better subjects.
When there is no middle class, and the poor greatly exceed in number, troubles arise, and the state soon comes to an end.
Good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government.
All that we do is done with an eye to something else.
We are better able to study our neighbors than ourselves, and their actions than our own.
When Pleasure is at the bar the jury is not impartial.
The ideal man is his own best friend and takes delight in privacy.
It is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal.
The man with a host of friends who slaps on the back everybody he meets is regarded as the friend of nobody.
Great is the good fortune of a state in which the citizens have a moderate and sufficient property.
It is not the possessions but the desires of mankind which require to be equalized.
It is not easy for a person to do any great harm when his tenure of office is short, whereas long possession begets tyranny.
Nowadays, for the sake of the advantage which is to be gained from the public revenues and from office, men want to be always in office.