Good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. We need a culture that supports the conditions under which self-love and friendship flourish.

A common danger unites even the bitterest enemies.

The vigorous are no better than the lazy during one half of life, for all men are alike when asleep.

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.

You can never learn anything that you did not already know

To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence.

In the Laws it is maintained that the best constitution is made up of democracy and tyranny, which are either not constitutions at all, or are the worst of all. But they are nearer the truth who combine many forms; for the constitution is better which is made up of more numerous elements. The constitution proposed in the Laws has no element of monarchy at all; it is nothing but oligarchy and democracy, leaning rather to oligarchy.