Democracy arose from men’s thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.
You can never learn anything that you did not already know.
Health is a matter of choice, not a mystery of chance.
Plato is my friend, but truth is a better friend.
Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.
He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
Happiness is prosperity combined with virtue.
Whatsoever that be within us that feels, thinks, desires, and animates, is something celestial, divine, and, consequently, imperishable.
Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural.
In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.
No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.
He who hath many friends hath none.
Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.
Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.
Man is by nature a political animal.
In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.
For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honor the truth first.
It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.
Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved.
Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.