Man...is a tame or civilized animal; never the less, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill- educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures.

He is unworthy of the name of man who is ignorant of the fact that the diagonal of a square is incommensurable with its side.

Democracy passes into despotism.

Remember our words, then, and whatever is your aim let virtue be the condition of the attainment of your aim, and know that without this all possessions and pursuits are dishonourable and evil.

. . . you did not seem to me over-fond of money. And this is the way in general with those who have not made it themselves, while those who have are twice as fond of it as anyone else. For just as poets are fond of their own poems, and fathers of their own children, so money-makers become devoted to money, not only because, like other people, they find it useful, but because it's their own creation.

Arithmetic is a kind of knowledge in which the best natures should be trained, and which must not be given up.

Then not only custom, but also nature affirms that to do is more disgraceful than to suffer injustice, and that justice is equality.