That which most contributes to the permanence of constitutions is the adaptation of education to the form of government, and yet in our own day this principle is universally neglected. The best laws, though sanctioned by every citizen of the state, will be of no avail unless the young are trained by habit and education in the spirit of the constitution.

I say that habit's but a long practice, friend, and this becomes men's nature in the end.

The happy life is regarded as a life in conformity with virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement.

The ideal man takes joy in doing favors for others.

The soul is characterized by these capacities; self-nutrition, sensation, thinking, and movement.

It must not be supposed that happiness will demand many or great possessions; for self-sufficiency does not depend on excessive abundance, nor does moral conduct, and it is possible to perform noble deeds even without being ruler of land and sea: one can do virtuous acts with quite moderate resources. This may be clearly observed in experience: private citizens do not seem to be less but more given to doing virtuous actions than princes and potentates. It is sufficient then if moderate resources are forthcoming; for a life of virtuous activity will be essentially a happy life.

For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.