States are as the men, they grow out of human characters.

So the state founded on natural principles is wise as a whole in virtue of the knowledge inherent in its smallest constituent class, which exercises authority over the rest. And the smallest class is the one which naturally possesses that form of knowledge which alone of all others deserves the title of wisdom.

Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.

Democracy does not contain any force which will check the constant tendency to put more and more on the public payroll. The state is like a hive of bees in which the drones display, multiply and starve the workers so the idlers will consume the food and the workers will perish.

To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without really being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know.

Mathematics is the language in which the gods talk to people.

Love is a severe mental disorder.