"He who has overcome his fears will truly be free."
"It is absurd to hold that a man ought to be ashamed of being unable to defend himself with his limbs but not of being unable to defend himself with speech and reason, when the use of reason is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs."
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."
"Thus every action must be due to one or other of seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reasoning, anger, or appetite."
"Misfortune shows those who are not really friends."
"The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things—and that means having exalted notions."
"Evils draw men together."
"It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences."
"Wit is well-bred insolence."
"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."
"Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all."
"Man is by nature a political animal."
"It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it."
"Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered."
"They should rule who are able to rule best."
"If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost."
"The good citizen need not of necessity possess the virtue which makes a good man."
"Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions."
"Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of mere companionship."
"The law is reason unaffected by desire."
"The basis of a democratic state is liberty."
"Law is order, and good law is good order."
"The appropriate age for marriage is around eighteen for girls and thirty-seven for men."
"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."
"When people are friends, they have no need of justice, but when they are just, they need friendship in addition."
"To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence."
"Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends."
"Hope is a waking dream."
"Any one can get angry — that is easy — or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for every one, nor is it easy."
"For the things we have to learn before we can do, we learn by doing."
"Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing."
"Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular."
"Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully."
"Liars when they speak the truth are not believed."
