To give small gifts is dishonor, because it is only alms and signifies an opinion on the necessity of small aids” (L 10, 21) . He also says: “the lust for great riches and the ambition for great honors are honorable, as signs of power to obtain them” (L 10, 47). In society, in small groups, it is common that "stealing and spoiling one another has been a profession, and far from being deemed against the law of nature, the more spoils they gained, the greater was their honor” (L 17, 2). This reinforces the need for security and defense of the people within the state. The purpose of government is "to defend them against the invasion of strangers and against the injury of one another, and thus to protect them in this way by their own industry" (L 17,