All men, or most men, wish what is noble but choose what is profitable; and while it is noble to render a service not with an eye to receiving one in return, it is profitable to receive one. One ought therefore, if one can, to return the equivalent of services received, and to do so willingly; for one ought not to make a man one's friend if one is unwilling to return his favors.

A democracy when put to the strain grows weak, and is supplanted by Oligarchy.

Excellence is not an art. It is the habit of practice.

To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true.

By 'life,' we mean a thing that can nourish itself and grow and decay.

The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.

Change in all things is sweet.