people to divert themselves with their folly; and, in their opinion, this is a great advantage to the fools themselves; for if men were so sullen and severe as not at all to please themselves with their ridiculous behaviour and foolish sayings, which is all that they can do to recommend themselves to others, it could not be expected that they would be so well provided for nor so tenderly used as they must otherwise be. If any man should reproach another for his being misshaped or imperfect in any part of his body, it would not at all be thought a reflection on the person so treated, but it would be accounted scandalous in him that had upbraided another with what he could not help. It is thought a sign of a sluggish and sordid mind not to preserve carefully one’s natural beauty; but it is likewise infamous among them to use paint. They all see that no beauty recommends a wife so much to her husband as the probity of her life and her obedience; for as some few are caught and held only by beauty, so all are attracted by the other excellences which charm all the world.
Así como atemorizan a los hombres para que no cometan delitos mediante castigos, así los invitan al amor de la virtud con honores públicos; por lo tanto, erigen estatuas en memoria de aquellos hombres dignos que han servido bien a su patria, y las colocan en sus plazas públicas, tanto para perpetuar el recuerdo de sus acciones como para ser un incentivo para su posteridad a fin de que sigan su ejemplo.
“Si algún hombre aspira a un cargo, tiene la seguridad de no alcanzarlo nunca. Todos viven en total armonía, pues ninguno de los magistrados es insolente ni cruel con el pueblo; prefieren que los llamen padres, y al serlo realmente, se merecen con creces el nombre; y el pueblo les tributa todas las muestras de honor con tanta mayor libertad cuanto que no se les exigen.
El Príncipe mismo no tiene ninguna distinción, ni en sus vestiduras ni en una corona; sino que se le distingue únicamente por una gavilla de trigo que se lleva ante él; del mismo modo que al Sumo Sacerdote se le reconoce porque le precede una persona que lleva una vela de cera”.