“The readiest and surest way to get rid of censure, is to correct ourselves.”

The sower of the seed is assuredly the author of the whole harvest of mischief.

I decline to buy repentance at the cost of ten thousand drachmas.

What we have in us of the image of God is the love of truth and justice.

A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.

There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to democracies as against despots – suspicion.

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.

As a vessel is known by the sound, whether it be cracked or not; so men are proved, by their speeches, whether they be wise or foolish.

You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man’s actions are, such must be his spirit.

Close alliances with despots are never safe for free states.

The more able a man is, if he make ill use of his abilities, the more dangerous will he be to the commonwealth.

To remind a man of the good turns you have done him is very much like a reproach.

The best protection for the people is not necessarily to believe everything people tell them.

What a man wishes, he will believe.

Whatever shall be to the advantage of all, may that prevail!

There is a great deal of wishful thinking in such cases it is the easiest thing of all to deceive ones self.

Every advantage in the past is judged in the light of the final issue.

So, to a certain extent, he’s very interested. If there’s some problem or something that doesn’t ring true, he wants to know why and he wants to correct it or fight for it.

There is more to knowing than just being correct

A loafer always has the correct time.

Transgressions are to be understood and corrected, not dwelt upon or agonized over.

Without a correct strategy the victory is impossible. But even the most correct strategy cannot give the victory under unfavorable objective conditions.

When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.

I also don’t believe that whatever comes after life depends on my correctly reciting a list of my transgressions…I don’t believe that what comes after depends on anything I do at all.

Since the nature of people is bad, to become corrected they must be taught by teachers and to be orderly they must acquire ritual and moral principles.