350 BC
POLITICS
by Aristotle
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
BOOK ONE
I
EVERY STATE is a community of some kind, and every community is
established with a view to some good; for mankind always act in
order to obtain that which they think good. But, if all communities
aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the
highest of all, and which embraces all the rest, aims at good in a
greater degree than any other, and at the highest good.
Some people think that the qualifications of a statesman, king,
householder, and master are the same, and that they differ, not in
kind, but only in the number of their subjects. For example, the ruler
over a few is called a master; over more, the manager of a
household; over a still larger number, a statesman or king, as if
there were no difference between a great household and a small
state. The distinction which is made between the king and the
statesman is as follows: When the government is personal, the ruler is
a king; when, according to the rules of the political science, the
citizens rule and are ruled in turn, then he is called a statesman.
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