--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first essential responsibility of the…" description: "\"The first essential responsibility of the state is control of the market-place: there must be some official charged with the duty of seeing that honest..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/aristotle-78_activity_the-first-essential-responsibility-of-th_1539515.jpg" --- # The first essential responsibility of the state is control… ![“The first essential responsibility of the state is control of the market-place: there must be some official charged with the duty of seeing that honest dealing and good order prevail. For one of the well-nigh essential activities of all states is the buying and selling of goods to meet their…” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/aristotle-78_activity_the-first-essential-responsibility-of-th_1539515.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/aristotle-78_activity_the-first-essential-responsibility-of-th_1539515.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/aristotle-78_activity_the-first-essential-responsibility-of-th_1539515.jpg) > “The first essential responsibility of the state is control of the market-place: there must be some official charged with the duty of seeing that honest dealing and good order prevail. For one of the well-nigh essential activities of all states is the buying and selling of goods to meet their mutual basic needs; this is the quickest way to self-sufficiency, which seems to be what moves men to combine under a single constitution.” [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The state must regulate markets to ensure honest trade and meet basic needs, fostering self‑sufficiency and unity. **In simple terms:** State controls markets for fairness and basic needs. Key Takeaway Support fair market oversight. Themes governance economics social contract Mood analytical thoughtful Type political economic When to use this quote - policy making - business ethics - community planning Key Concepts regulation public welfare Questions to Reflect On - What balance of market freedom and control is ideal? - How does regulation affect self‑sufficiency? A Different Perspective Over‑regulation may stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [All state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-state/) [Basic needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basic-needs/) [Buying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buying/) [Buying and selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buying-and-selling/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Essential Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essential-responsibility-5730575/) [Essentials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentials/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Goods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goods/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Liberalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Mutual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mutual/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Officials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officials/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Responsibility State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility-state-1885238/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self sufficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-sufficiency/) [Selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling/) [Single Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-constitution-5730576/) [State Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-control-1619833/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Sufficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sufficiency/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [Let's say there are 500 sons and daughters like you in each state. Then we could control the government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/let-s-say-there-are-500-sons-and-daughters-like-you-in-each-state/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) > [Successful economies in the modern world are not sheepish about the power and responsibility of the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-miliband/successful-economies-in-the-modern-world-are-not-sheepish-about-the/) [David Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-miliband/) > [If you are not taking responsibility for your state of consciousness, you are not taking responsibility for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/if-you-are-not-taking-responsibility-for-your-state-of-consciousness/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [State control is important for the people who have always been excluded from the claims of social and economic development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evo-morales/state-control-is-important-for-the-people-who-have-always-been/) [Evo Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evo-morales/) > [Overall state control with foreign participation is as good as you are going to get in South America at this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riordan-roett/overall-state-control-with-foreign-participation-is-as-good-as-you/) [Riordan Roett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riordan-roett/) > [ It's a war to control our children. State control through drugs, just as practiced in the Soviet Union. With Hillary \[Clinton\] and Tipper \[Gore\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/it-s-a-war-to-control-our-children-state-control-through-drugs-just/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [No change in the balance of political parties can alter the general determination that no class should be excluded from contributing to and sharing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-stresemann/no-change-in-the-balance-of-political-parties-can-alter-the-general/) [Gustav Stresemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-stresemann/) > [Law and order is the responsibility of the state governments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mamata-banerjee/law-and-order-is-the-responsibility-of-the-state-governments/) [Mamata Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mamata-banerjee/) > [“Of course, the idea that a state, any more than a corporation, commits crimes, is a fiction. Crimes always are committed only by persons.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-jackson/of-course-the-idea-that-a-state-any-more-than-a-corporation-commits/) [Robert H. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-jackson/) > [The rearing of children is considered too important to be left to the individual and should be the responsibility of the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-rearing-of-children-is-considered-too-important-to-be-left-to-the/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [The first responsibility of the state is to guarantee the safety of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-salinas-pliego/the-first-responsibility-of-the-state-is-to-guarantee-the-safety-of/) [Ricardo Salinas Pliego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-salinas-pliego/) > [Control of thought is more important for governments that are free and popular than for despotic and military states. The logic is straightforward: a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/control-of-thought-is-more-important-for-governments-that-are-free/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The state is out of control, the state is on a spending binge, the state has to stop putting itself in a hole thats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ueberroth/the-state-is-out-of-control-the-state-is-on-a-spending-binge-the/) [Peter Ueberroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ueberroth/) > [I do believe in local control. I do believe in state control, but we do have a responsibility to protect the civil rights of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cardona/i-do-believe-in-local-control-i-do-believe-in-state-control-but-we-do/) [Miguel Cardona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cardona/) > [The issue isn't gun control but state control -- obtuse and arbitrary state control, state control run amok. ... Forget guns. If Dr. Hudson,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-jonas/the-issue-isn-t-gun-control-but-state-control-obtuse-and-arbitrary/) [George Jonas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-jonas/) ## More by Aristotle > [The knowledge of the soul admittedly contributes greatly to the advance of truth in general, and, above all, to our understanding of Nature, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-knowledge-of-the-soul-admittedly-contributes-greatly-to-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Although it may be difficult in theory to know what is just and equal, the practical difficulty of inducing those to forbear who can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/although-it-may-be-difficult-in-theory-to-know-what-is-just-and-equal/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All men by nature desire to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-men-by-nature-desire-to-know/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-persons-ought-to-endeavor-to-follow-what-is-right-and-not-what-is/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Give a man a poisoned fish, you feed him for the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/give-a-man-a-fish-you-feed-him-for-a-day-give-a-man-a-poisoned-fish/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The man who confers a favour would rather not be repaid in the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-man-who-confers-a-favour-would-rather-not-be-repaid-in-the-same/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The mother of revolution and crime is poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-mother-of-revolution-and-crime-is-poverty/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Obstinate people can be divided into the opinionated, the ignorant, and the boorish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/obstinate-people-can-be-divided-into-the-opinionated-the-ignorant-and/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [To learn is a natural pleasure, not confined to philosophers, but common to all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-learn-is-a-natural-pleasure-not-confined-to-philosophers-but/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/every-virtue-is-a-mean-between-two-extremes-each-of-which-is-a-vice/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Explore all 1,545 Aristotle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The first essential responsibility of the state is control of the market-place: there must be some official charged with the duty of seeing that honest dealing and good order prevail. 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