If a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the Muses, believing that technique alone will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the performances of the inspired madman.

Envy is the ulcer of the soul.

It is the greatest good for an individual to discuss virtue (aka areté) every day...for the unexamined life is not worth living.

Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires.

God does not deal directly with man: it is by means of spirits that all the intercourse and communication of gods with men, both in waking life and in sleep, is carried on.

The noblest worship is to make yourself as good and as just as you can.

Whenever a number of individuals have a common name, we assume them to have also a corresponding idea or form.