Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.

The poets are nothing but interpreters of the gods, each one possessed by the divinity to whom he is in bondage.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

Evil is the vulgar lover who loves the body rather than the soul, inasmuch as he is not even stable, because he loves a thing which is in itself unstable, and therefore when the bloom of youth which he was desiring is over, he takes wing and flies away, in spite of all his words and promises; whereas the love of the noble disposition is life-long, for it becomes one with the everlasting.

Even the gods love jokes.

He who is of a calm and happy nature, will hardly feel the pressure of age

Are these things good for any other reason except that they end in pleasure, and get rid of and avert pain? Are you looking to any other standard but pleasure and pain when you call them good?