Since the whole city has one end, it is manifest that education should be one and the same for all, and that it should be public, and not private - not as at present, when every one looks after his own children separately, and gives them separate instruction of the sort which he thinks best; the training in things which are of common interest should be the same for all. Neither must we suppose that any one of the citizens belongs to himself, for they all belong to the state, and are each of them a part of the state, and the care of each part is inseparable from the care of the whole.

The true friend of the people should see that they be not too poor, for extreme poverty lowers the character of the democracy.

Love is the cause of unity in all things.

Democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers.

Speech is the representation of the mind, and writing is the representation of speech.

The only stable principle of government is equality according to proportion, and for every man to enjoy his own.

A state is an association of similar persons whose aim is the best life possible. What is best is happiness, and to be happy is an active exercise of virtue and a complete employment of it.