If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.

A proper wife should be as obedient as a slave... The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities - a natural defectiveness.

Happiness is self-connectedness.

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

The structural unity of the parts is such that, if any one of them is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and dis­turbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference is not an organic part of the whole.

Good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government.

Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.