Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.

Memory is the scribe of the soul.

Emotions of any kind are produced by melody and rhythm; therefore by music a man becomes accustomed to feeling the right emotions; music has thus the power to form character, and the various kinds of music based on various modes may be distinguished by their effects on character.

And this lies in the nature of things: What people are potentially is revealed in actuality by what they produce.

The happy man . . . will be always or at least most often employed in doing and contemplating the things that are in conformity with virtue. And he will bear changes of fortunes most nobly, and with perfect propriety in every way.

The soul suffers when the body is diseased or traumatized, while the body suffers when the soul is ailing.

In revolutions the occasions may be trifling but great interest are at stake.