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'The first and highest form of the state and of the government

and of the law is that in which there prevails most widely the

ancient saying that "Friends have all things in common." Whether

there is now, or ever will be, this communion of women and

children and of property, in which the private and individual is

altogether banished from life, and things which are by nature

private, such as eyes and ears and hands, have become common, and

all men express praise and blame, and feel joy and sorrow, on the

same occasions, and the laws unite the city to the

utmost,-whether all this is possible or not, I say that no man,

acting upon any other principle, will ever constitute a state

more exalted in virtue, or truer or better than this. Such a

state, whether inhabited by Gods or sons of Gods, will make them

blessed who dwell therein; and therefore to this we are to look

for the pattern of the state, and to cling to this, and, as far

as possible, to seek for one which is like this.