Plato Quotes

Knowledge of human nature is the beginning and end of political education.

The nature of man is intricate. The objects of society are of the greatest complexity and therefore no simple disposition or direction of power can be suitable either to man's nature or to the quality of his affairs.

Politics moves upward into ethics, and ethics ascends to theology.

It may be argued that peoples for whom philosophers legislate are always prosperous.

The circumstances of human society are too complicated to be submitted to the rigor of mathematical calculation.

What is government itself but the great reflection of human nature.

I will govern according to the common weal, but not according to the common will.

We are all imperfect. We cannot expect perfect government.

In the common run of mankind, for one that is wise and good you find ten of a contrary character.

Do not make Mistakes about Character. That is the worst and yet easiest error. Better be cheated in the price than in the quality of goods. In dealing with men, more than with other things, it is necessary to look within. To know men is different from knowing things. It is profound philosophy to sound the depths of feeling and distinguish traits of character. Men must be studied as deeply as books.

When we ask for the abolition of the State and its organs we are always told that we dream of a society composed of men better than they are in reality. But no; a thousand times, no. All we ask is that men should not be made worse than they are, by such institutions!

Governments must conform to the nature of the men governed.

Morality has nothing in common with politics.

The balance between good and evil, and the choices we make between them, are probably the single most important aspects shaping our personalities and humanity.

Actually, there is only one first question of government, and it is How should we live? or What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?

The State is not, as many political scientists would make it, an inanimate thing; it consists of people, human beings, each of whom operates under an inner compulsion to get the most out of life with the least expenditure of labor.

I'm a Democrat, and there are an important group of things only the government can do. But let us be clear that for most of the world, what they most need is less government.

A human being is a naturally political [animal].

Policy sits above conscience.

Politics and life go hand in hand.

Politics is how you think about life itself.

Democracy and markets are both fundamental building blocks for a decent society. But they clash at a fundamental level. We need to balance them.

Democrats believe people are basically good but must be saved from themselves by the government. Republicans believe people are basically bad but they'll be okay if they're left alone.

Government is the exercise of all the great qualities of the human mind.

People--stupid when they lived; potentially stupid when they died.