If one were to order all mankind to choose the best set of rules in the world, each group would, after due consideration, choose its own customs; each group regards its own as being by far the best.

Madison, James. "No. 51: How to maintain: make the parts check each other. Also, a federal system divides power further.--Madison (or Hamilton)." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

Augustus, Caesar. Quoted in The Lives of the Caesars, written by Suetonius, translated by Catharine Edwards. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Phocylides. Quoted in Politics, written by Aristotle, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 4.