The guest will judge better of a feast than the cook
It is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal.
The bad man is continually at war with, and in opposition to, himself.
A very populous city can rarely, if ever, be well governed.
The government of freemen is nobler and implies more virtue than despotic government. Neither is a city to be deemed happy or a legislator to be praised because he trains his citizens to conquer and obtain dominion over their neighbors, for there is great evil in this.
He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.