Now property is part of a household, and the acquisition of property part of household-management; for neither life itself nor the good life is possible without a certain minimum supply of the necessities.

All men agree that a just distribution must be according to merit in some sense; they do not all specify the same sort of merit, but democrats identify it with freemen, supporters of oligarchy with wealth (or noble birth), and supporters of aristocracy with excellence.

Happiness, then, is co-extensive with contemplation, and the more people contemplate, the happier they are; not incidentally, but in virtue of their contemplation, because it is in itself precious. Thus happiness is a form of contemplation.

Meanness is incurable; it cannot be cured by old age, or by anything else.

I seek to bring forth what you almost already know.

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.

Youth should stay away from all evil, especially things that produce wickedness and ill-will.