I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.

We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing

To be an object of hatred and aversion to their contemporaries has been the usual fate of all those whose merit has raised them above the common level. The man who submits to the shafts of envy for the sake of noble objects pursues a judicious course for his own lasting fame. Hatred dies with its object, while merit soon breaks forth in full splendor, and his glory is handed down to posterity in never-dying strains.

Don't confuse meaning with truth.

There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another; but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school.

The secret of freedom, courage.

I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time