Aristotle Quotes

One swallow does not make a summer,
neither does one fine day;
similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.

2639

To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.

2110

The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.

2030

For he who lives as passion directs will not hear argument that dissuades him, nor understand it if he does; and how can we persuade one in such a state to change his ways?

4491

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

1818

To amuse oneself in order that one may exert oneself, as Anacharsis puts it, seems right; for amusement is a sort of relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously.

4872

Wit is educated insolence.

1738

The secret to humor is surprise.

1453

To perceive is to suffer.

2797

For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.

3566

Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.

1490

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

1710

All Earthquakes and Disasters are warnings; there’s too much corruption in the world

1016

It is absurd to hold that a man should be ashamed of an inability to defend himself with his limbs, but not ashamed of an inability to defend himself with speech and reason; for the use of rational speech is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs.

4356

With the truth, all given facts harmonize; but with what is false, the truth soon hits a wrong note.

2575

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances."
- Aristotle

2328

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.

1258

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

4046

I have gained this by philosophy … I do without being ordered what some are constrained to do by their fear of the law.

1471

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.

2860

All men by nature desire knowledge.

2244

Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life.

1215

Philosophy can make people sick.

4783

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

4270

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

3884

The pleasures arising from thinking and learning will make us think and learn all the more. 1153a 23

4660

youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.

3864

It is a part of probability that many improbabilities will happen.

4828

Happiness depends upon ourselves.

3266

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

1115

Happiness is a state of activity.

3159

Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances.

2455

The gods too are fond of a joke.

1807

Hope is a waking dream.

1684

Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.

2455

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

1339

The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead.

1388

Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age.

4025

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.

1007

The void is 'not-being,' and no part of 'what is' is a 'not-being,'; for what 'is' in the strict sense of the term is an absolute plenum. This plenum, however, is not 'one': on the contrary, it is a 'many' infinite in number and invisible owing to the minuteness of their bulk.

4252

Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.

4548

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

1417

Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.

4709

For there are two reasons why human beings face danger calmly: they may have no experience of it, or they may have means to deal with it: thus when in danger at sea people may feel confident about what will happen either because they have no experience of bad weather, or because their experience gives them the means of dealing with it.

3767

It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.

2363

He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled

1900

Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved.

3574

Nature does nothing uselessly.

1250

Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.

4914

With respect to the requirement of art, the probable impossible is always preferable to the improbable possible.

2122

It is in our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

1886

The Ideal age for marriage in men is 35. The Ideal age for marriage in women is 18

1786

The energy of the mind is the essence of life.

2657

Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.

3071

To seek for utility everywhere is entirely unsuited to men that are great-souled and free.

3529

Men do not become tyrants in order that they may not suffer cold.

3980

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.

2280

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.

3163

A friend to all is a friend to none.

3897

The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.

1164

Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.

2103

The female is, as it were, a mutilated male, and the catamenia are semen, only not pure; for there is only one thing they have not in them, the principle of soul.

3955

And it will often happen that a man with wealth in the form of coined money will not have enough to eat; and what a ridiculous kind of wealth is that which even in abundance will not save you from dying with hunger!

4489

Yes the truth is that men's ambition and their desire to make money are among the most frequent causes of deliberate acts of injustice.

4364

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.

4651

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. –Aristotle

2111

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.

1722

The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law.

3432

Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society.

3190

Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of mere companionship.

1724

Tis the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

3994

Learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain.

4264