Aristotle Quotes

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

- Aristotle

Roots, Fruit, Sweet, Education

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

- Aristotle

Mind, Educated, Entertain, Education

The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.

- Aristotle

Inequality, Equal, Form, Equality

Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.

- Aristotle

Anger, Purpose, Everybody, Person

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.

- Aristotle

Most, Which, Persons, Virtues

For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.

- Aristotle

Happy, One Day, Swallow, Short Time

Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. This is not a function of any other art.

- Aristotle

Other, Given, Means, Available

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

- Aristotle

Inspirational, Moments, See, Focus

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.

- Aristotle

Young, Other, Misfortunes, Deeds

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.

- Aristotle

Business, Private, Use, Disposition

The eyes of some persons are large, others small, and others of a moderate size; the last-mentioned are the best. And some eyes are projecting, some deep-set, and some moderate, and those which are deep-set have the most acute vision in all animals; the middle position is a sign of the best disposition.

- Aristotle

Small, Some, Which, Disposition

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.

- Aristotle

Produce, Statesman, Namely, Disposition

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.

- Aristotle

Politics, Men, Rulers, Property

Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government.

- Aristotle

Seek, Means, Different Ways, Modes

But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.

- Aristotle

Soul, Mind, Which, Qualified

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.

- Aristotle

Victory, Over, Desires, Overcomes

Those who excel in virtue have the best right of all to rebel, but then they are of all men the least inclined to do so.

- Aristotle

Best, Least, Inclined, Rebel

Man is by nature a political animal.

- Aristotle

Nature, Politics, Political, Animal

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

- Aristotle

Memory, Reasoning, Though, Animal

Some animals are cunning and evil-disposed, as the fox; others, as the dog, are fierce, friendly, and fawning. Some are gentle and easily tamed, as the elephant; some are susceptible of shame, and watchful, as the goose. Some are jealous and fond of ornament, as the peacock.

- Aristotle

Shame, Cunning, Some, Goose

In constructing the plot and working it out with the proper diction, the poet should place the scene, as far as possible, before his eyes. In this way, seeing everything with the utmost vividness, as if he were a spectator of the action, he will discover what is in keeping with it, and be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies.

- Aristotle

Eyes, Before, Proper, Unlikely

No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.

- Aristotle

Soul, Madness, Excellent, Mixture

Long-lived persons have one or two lines which extend through the whole hand; short-lived persons have two lines not extending through the whole hand.

- Aristotle

Through, Short-Lived, Which, One Or Two

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.

- Aristotle

Study, Making, Means, Points

Some kinds of animals burrow in the ground; others do not. Some animals are nocturnal, as the owl and the bat; others use the hours of daylight. There are tame animals and wild animals. Man and the mule are always tame; the leopard and the wolf are invariably wild, and others, as the elephant, are easily tamed.

- Aristotle

Owl, Some, Nocturnal, Bat

It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

- Aristotle

Art, Other, Telling, Chiefly

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost.

- Aristotle

Equality, Thought, Some, Chiefly

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

- Aristotle

Art, Appearance, Inward, Significance

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.

- Aristotle

Good, Instinct, Faculty, Noted

A statement is persuasive and credible either because it is directly self-evident or because it appears to be proved from other statements that are so.

- Aristotle

Other, Credible, Persuasive, Directly

No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.

- Aristotle

Eye, Taken, Increases, Strikes

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

- Aristotle

Men, Young, Utter, Maxims

Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.

- Aristotle

Age, Old, Ornament, Reproach

At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.

- Aristotle

Best, Law, Best Man, Separated

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.

- Aristotle

Dignity, Does, Possessing, Honors

The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.

- Aristotle

Truth, Later, Initial, Deviation

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.

- Aristotle

Depends, Rather, Ultimate, Contemplation

Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.

- Aristotle

Beast, Wild Beast, Either, Delighted

Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.

- Aristotle

Possibilities, Probable, Impossibilities

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.

- Aristotle

Rather, Swayed, Apt, Refrain

Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.

- Aristotle

Same, Friendly, Hostile, Judgments

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.

- Aristotle

Other, Against, Treatment, Pious

My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.

- Aristotle

Friendship, Me, Well Wishes, Wishing

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

- Aristotle

Friendship, Slow, Quick, Wishing

To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice and, while it is true that the suicide braves death, he does it not for some noble object but to escape some ill.

- Aristotle

Death, Some, Away, Object

The duty of rhetoric is to deal with such matters as we deliberate upon without arts or systems to guide us, in the hearing of persons who cannot take in at a glance a complicated argument or follow a long chain of reasoning.

- Aristotle

Argument, Deal, Chain, Glance

Some animals utter a loud cry. Some are silent, and others have a voice, which in some cases may be expressed by a word; in others, it cannot. There are also noisy animals and silent animals, musical and unmusical kinds, but they are mostly noisy about the breeding season.

- Aristotle

Voice, Loud, Which, Noisy

Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. We believe good men more fully and more readily than others: this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided.

- Aristotle

Credible, Divided, Readily, Good Men

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

- Aristotle

Love, Single, Composed, Love Is

The energy of the mind is the essence of life.

- Aristotle

Life, Mind, Essence, Energy

Whether if soul did not exist time would exist or not, is a question that may fairly be asked; for if there cannot be someone to count there cannot be anything that can be counted, so that evidently there cannot be number; for number is either what has been, or what can be, counted.

- Aristotle

Question, Been, May, Counted

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

- Aristotle

Educated, Dead, Living, Differ

Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.

- Aristotle

Rest, Thy, Though, Wilt

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

- Aristotle

Nature, All Things, Things, Marvelous

Change in all things is sweet.

- Aristotle

Change, Sweet, Things, All Things

A sense is what has the power of receiving into itself the sensible forms of things without the matter, in the way in which a piece of wax takes on the impress of a signet-ring without the iron or gold.

- Aristotle

Matter, Sense, Which, Sensible

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

- Aristotle

Work, Pleasure, Puts, Perfection

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.

- Aristotle

Nature, Reason, Which, Blaze

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

- Aristotle

Great, City, Confounded, Great City

He who can be, and therefore is, another's, and he who participates in reason enough to apprehend, but not to have, is a slave by nature.

- Aristotle

Nature, Reason, Slave, Apprehend

The moral virtues, then, are produced in us neither by nature nor against nature. Nature, indeed, prepares in us the ground for their reception, but their complete formation is the product of habit.

- Aristotle

Nature, Product, Against, Prepares

Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.

- Aristotle

Habit, Doing, Result, Temperate

We become just by performing just action, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave action.

- Aristotle

Brave, Action, Performing, Temperate

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.

- Aristotle

Mom, Mothers, Fathers, Fonder

Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of the nature of universals, whereas those of history are singulars.

- Aristotle

Nature, Rather, Import, Whereas

Wit is educated insolence.

- Aristotle

Intelligence, Educated, Wit, Insolence

Education is the best provision for old age.

- Aristotle

Education, Best, Old, Provision

Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbour to have them through envy.

- Aristotle

Jealousy, Through, Allow, Base

Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated.

- Aristotle

Clearly, Been, Persuaded, Fully

Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.

- Aristotle

Teen, All The Difference, Formed

Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.

- Aristotle

Mind, Through, Cheerfulness, Calamities

Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.

- Aristotle

Equality, Equally, Any, Respects

The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more.

- Aristotle

Beginning, Desire, Natures, Train

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

- Aristotle

Virtues, Liberalism, Most, Beloved

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.

- Aristotle

Virtue, Dealing, Up, Justly

It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those who have expressed more superficial views; for these also contributed something, by developing before us the powers of thought.

- Aristotle

Thankful, Grateful, May, Powers

Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.

- Aristotle

Pain, Evil, Anticipation, Arising

To attain any assured knowledge about the soul is one of the most difficult things in the world.

- Aristotle

Soul, World, Most, Assured

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

- Aristotle

Circumstances, Making, Ideal, Ideal Man

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

- Aristotle

Beauty, Reference, Than, Recommendation

The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes.

- Aristotle

Middle, Other, Which, Middle Class

The poet, being an imitator like a painter or any other artist, must of necessity imitate one of three objects - things as they were or are, things as they are said or thought to be, or things as they ought to be. The vehicle of expression is language - either current terms or, it may be, rare words or metaphors.

- Aristotle

Thought, Artist, Other, Ought

Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.

- Aristotle

Always, Laws, Been, Ought

Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.

- Aristotle

Reason, Some, Which, All Things

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.

- Aristotle

Art, Living, More, Educate

Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions.

- Aristotle

Mind, May, Which, Order

The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication.

- Aristotle

Young, Resembling, State, Permanently

We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one.

- Aristotle

More, Figure, Whether, Wax

Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory, or happiness.

- Aristotle

Politics, Political, Always, Aiming

The gods too are fond of a joke.

- Aristotle

Joke, Gods, Too, Fond

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

- Aristotle

Art, Excellence, Repeatedly, Acted

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

- Aristotle

Brainy, Qualities, Which, Human Qualities

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

- Aristotle

Teacher, Sign, Exclusive, Thorough

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.

- Aristotle

Decline, Degenerate, Republics

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

- Aristotle

Poetry, More, Finer, Philosophical

Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.

- Aristotle

Desires, Means, Increased, Increase

Most people would rather give than get affection.

- Aristotle

Give, Most, Would, Affection

It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.

- Aristotle

Thirsty, Nor, Drunken, Rise

Hope is a waking dream.

- Aristotle

Hope, Dream, Waking

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.

- Aristotle

Beginning, Tragedy, Middle, Magnitude

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.

- Aristotle

Mind, Paid, Jobs, Absorb

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life - knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.

- Aristotle

Life, Willing, Sufficiently, Conditions

Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.

- Aristotle

Truth, Honor, Above, Requires

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

- Aristotle

Love, Truth, Though, Requires

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

- Aristotle

Law, Only, Being, Gained

Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.

- Aristotle

Education, Adversity, Refuge, Ornament

We praise a man who feels angry on the right grounds and against the right persons and also in the right manner at the right moment and for the right length of time.

- Aristotle

Against, Length, Feels, Grounds

Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.

- Aristotle

Truth, Me, Still, Plato

The end of labor is to gain leisure.

- Aristotle

Work, End, Labor, Leisure

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.

- Aristotle

Society, Need, Beast, Sufficient

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.

- Aristotle

Chance, Desire, Reason, Compulsion

Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

- Aristotle

Art, Other, Telling, Poets

The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.

- Aristotle

Justice, Virtue, Consists, Moderation

He who hath many friends hath none.

- Aristotle

Friendship, None, Many, Hath

The state comes into existence for the sake of life and continues to exist for the sake of good life.

- Aristotle

Existence, Exist, State, Sake

No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world.

- Aristotle

Other, Condition, Having, Friendless

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

- Aristotle

Been, Must, Ruler, Ruled

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.

- Aristotle

Men, Particular Way, Particular

Friendship is essentially a partnership.

- Aristotle

Friendship, Partnership, Essentially

Bad men are full of repentance.

- Aristotle

Men, Bad, Bad Men, Repentance

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.

- Aristotle

Reason, Practical, Which, Determined

The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

- Aristotle

More, Than, Whole, Parts

Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.

- Aristotle

Mistrust, Tyrant, Them, Therefore

Therefore, the good of man must be the end of the science of politics.

- Aristotle

Science, Politics, Must, Therefore

The soul never thinks without a picture.

- Aristotle

Soul, Never, Without, Thinks

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

- Aristotle

Motivational, Habit, Act, Quality

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

- Aristotle

Courage, Mind, Next, Quality

No one loves the man whom he fears.

- Aristotle

Man, Loves, He, Whom

The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.

- Aristotle

Pain, Wise, Aim, Avoid

Temperance is a mean with regard to pleasures.

- Aristotle

Mean, Temperance, Regard, Pleasures

In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.

- Aristotle

Rich, Will, More, Majority

A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.

- Aristotle

Constitution, State, Arrangement

Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.

- Aristotle

Hope, Quick, Easily, Deceived

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.

- Aristotle

Friendship, Perfect, Other, Alike

If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way.

- Aristotle

Nature, Better, Sure, One Way

Men are swayed more by fear than by reverence.

- Aristotle

Men, More, Reverence, Swayed

A friend to all is a friend to none.

- Aristotle

Friendship, None, Friend

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.

- Aristotle

Shows, Those, Really, Misfortune

Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.

- Aristotle

Persuasion, Most, Means, Effective

Courage is a mean with regard to fear and confidence.

- Aristotle

Courage, Confidence, Mean, Regard

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

- Aristotle

Image, Mode, Form, Regard

Well begun is half done.

- Aristotle

Brainy, Well, Half, Begun

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.

- Aristotle

Intelligence, Genius, Some, Madness

There was never a genius without a tincture of madness.

- Aristotle

Genius, Never, Without, Madness

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.

- Aristotle

Other, Would, Though, Goods

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

- Aristotle

Power, Our, Lies

Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.

- Aristotle

Teach, Know, Those, Understand

It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world.

- Aristotle

Twice, Nor, Times, Number

The secret to humor is surprise.

- Aristotle

Humor, Secret, Surprise

Nature does nothing in vain.

- Aristotle

Nature, Nothing, Does, Vain

Happiness depends upon ourselves.

- Aristotle

Happiness, Ourselves, Depends

We are not angry with people we fear or respect, as long as we fear or respect them; you cannot be afraid of a person and also at the same time angry with him.

- Aristotle

Them, Same Time, Also, Angry

The law is reason, free from passion.

- Aristotle

Law, Free, Reason, Passion

We make war that we may live in peace.

- Aristotle

Peace, War, May, Live

All men by nature desire knowledge.

- Aristotle

Nature, Knowledge, Men, Desire

Law is mind without reason.

- Aristotle

Mind, Reason, Without, Law

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