When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire . . .

Anybody can be a hellene, by his heart, his mind, his spirit.

Whom do I call educated? First, those who manage well the circumstances they encounter day by day. Next, those who are decent and honorable in their intercourse with all men, bearing easily and good naturedly what is offensive in others and being as agreeable and reasonable to their associates as is humanly possible to be... those who hold their pleasures always under control and are not ultimately overcome by their misfortunes... those who are not spoiled by their successes, who do not desert their true selves but hold their ground steadfastly as wise and sober - minded men.

No citizen has any right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training; it is part of his profession as a citizen to keep himself in good condition... [It is] a disgrace for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and the strength of which his body is capable.

Some have courage in pleasures, and some in pains: some in desires, and some in fears, and some are cowards under the same conditions.

The uninitiated are those who believe in nothing except what they can grasp in their hands, and who deny the existence of all that is invisible.

I believe that we cannot live better than in seeking to become better, nor more agreeably than having a clear conscience.