Above all things that ought not to be forgotten which
many governments now corrupted neglect; namely, to preserve a mean.
For many things seemingly favourable to a democracy destroy a
democracy, and many things seemingly favourable to an oligarchy
destroy an oligarchy. Those who think this the only virtue extend it
to excess, not considering that as a nose which varies a little from
perfect straightness, either towards a hook nose or a flat one, may
yet be beautiful and agreeable to look at; but if this particularity
is extended beyond measure, first of all the properties of the part is
lost, but at last it can hardly be admitted to be a nose at all, on
account of the excess of the rise or sinking: thus it is with other
parts of the human body; so also the same thing is true with respect
to states; for both an oligarchy and a democracy may something vary
from their most perfect form and yet be well constituted; but if any
one endeavours to extend either of them too far, at first he will make
the government the worse for it, but at last there will be no
government at all remaining. The lawgiver and the politician therefore
should know well what preserves and what destroys a democracy or an
oligarchy, for neither the one nor the other can possibly continue
without rich and poor: but that whenever an entire equality of
circumstances [1310a] prevails, the state must necessarily become of
another form; so that those who destroy these laws, which authorise an
inequality in property, destroy the government.
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