Where reverence is, there is fear; for he who has a feeling of reverence and shame about the commission of any action, fears and is afraid of an ill reputation.

. . . 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.

The first and the best victory is to conquer self.

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

The function of the wing is to take what is heavy and raise it up in the region above.

The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.

Whereas the truth is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are most eager, the worst.