Aristotle Quotes

Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and polymath who made significant contributions to various fields, including philosophy, science, logic, and ethics. He was a student of Plato and a tutor to Alexander the Great. Aristotle's works, such as "Nicomachean Ethics" and "Metaphysics," explored fundamental questions about human nature, morality, and the nature of reality. His systematic approach to knowledge and his influential ideas have had a profound impact on Western philosophy and continue to be studied and debated today.

The soul never thinks without a picture.

The end of labor is to gain leisure.

A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies ... -Aristotle

A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

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This quote highlights that consistently demonstrating excellence or high standards is not merely an occasional action but rather a result of ingrained habits. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining consistent quality in all endeavors.

For though we love both the truth and our friends,... -Aristotle

For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honor the truth first.

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.

Excellence, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean, relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.

The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is th... -Aristotle

The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.

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An individual who possesses a deep and comprehensive understanding of a subject can effectively communicate and impart that knowledge to others through teaching, demonstrating true mastery of the subject matter.

Courage is a mean with regard to fear and confiden... -Aristotle

Courage is a mean with regard to fear and confidence.

Well begun is half done.

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This quote emphasizes the significance of a good start or preparation in achieving success or completing a task. It suggests that laying a solid foundation or commencing an endeavor with careful planning and commitment increases the likelihood of favorable outcomes.

In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech.

The true and the approximately true are apprehended by the same faculty; it may also be noted that men have a sufficient natural instinct for what is true, and usually do arrive at the truth. Hence the man who makes a good guess at truth is likely to make a good guess at probabilities.

Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.

A tragedy is a representation of an action that is whole and complete and of a certain magnitude. A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end.

Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than a... -Aristotle

Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of reference.

For as the eyes of bats are to the blaze of day, so is the reason in our soul to the things which are by nature most evident of all.

What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.

Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves.

The generality of men are naturally apt to be swayed by fear rather than reverence, and to refrain from evil rather because of the punishment that it brings than because of its own foulness.

A great city is not to be confounded with a populo... -Aristotle

A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one.

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This quote emphasizes that the greatness of a city should not be solely determined by its population size or sheer numbers. It suggests that factors such as cultural richness, historical significance, architectural beauty, or societal advancements play a crucial role in defining the greatness of a city beyond its population metrics.

It is clearly better that property should be private, but the use of it common; and the special business of the legislator is to create in men this benevolent disposition.

Man is the only animal capable of reasoning, though many others possess the faculty of memory and instruction in common with him.

He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.

Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.