Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.

When will there be justice in Athens? There will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are.

Those who have experienced good and bad luck many times have every reason to be skeptical of successes

Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.

Some legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.

The absence of romance from my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. In fine, 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.

Three of the gravest failings, want of sense, of courage, or of vigilance.