Mankind will never see an end of trouble until... lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power... become lovers of wisdom.

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.

Old age: A great sense of calm and freedom. When the passions have relaxed their hold, you may have escaped, not from one master but from many

Thinking: The talking of the soul with itself.

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

The beginning is the most important part of the work.

He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.

Man...is a tame or civilized animal; never the less, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill- educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures.

Laws are partly formed for the sake of good men, in order to instruct them how they may live on friendly terms with one another, and partly for the sake of those who refuse to be instructed, whose spirit cannot be subdued, or softened, or hindered from plunging into evil.

If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.