The proof that the state is a creation of nature and prior to the individual is that the individual, when isolated, is not self-sufficing.

If men think that a ruler is religious and has a reverence for the Gods, they are less afraid of suffering injustice at his hands.

Even if you must have regard to wealth, in order to secure leisure, yet it is surely a bad thing that the greatest offices, such as those of kings and generals, should be bought. The law which allows this abuse makes wealth of more account than virtue, and the whole state becomes avaricious.

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.

It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.

True happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise all you're having is immediate gratification pleasure, which is fleeting and doesn't grow you as a person.

We have next to consider the formal definition of virtue.