Aristotle Quotes

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

Hence a young man is not a proper hearer of lectures on political science; for he is inexperienced in the actions that occur in life, but its discussions start from these and are about these; and, further, since he tends to follow his passions, his study will be vain and unprofitable, because the end aimed at is not knowledge but action. And it makes no difference whether he is young in years or youthful in character; the defect does not depend on time, but on his living, and pursuing each successive object, as passion directs. For to such persons, as to the incontinent, knowledge brings no profit; but to those who desire and act in accordance with a rational principle knowledge about such matters will be of great benefit.

To perceive is to suffer.

The saddest of all tragedies - the wasted life

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

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

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

These virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions ... The good of man is a working of the soul in the way of excellence in a complete life.

Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal and equals that they may be superior.

The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.

Nor is he liberal who gives with pain; for he would prefer the wealth to the noble act, and this is not characteristic of a liberal man. But no more will the liberal man take from wrong sources; for such taking is not characteristic of the man who sets no store by wealth.

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

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

It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.

And further, observing that all this indeterminate substance is in motion, and that no true predication can be made of that which changes, they supposed that it is impossible to make any true statement about that which is in all ways and entirely changeable. For it was from this supposition that there blossomed forth the most extreme view of those which we have mentioned, that of the professed followers of Heraclitus, and such as Cratylus held, who ended by thinking that one need not say anything, and only moved his finger; and who criticized Heraclitus for saying that one cannot enter the same river twice, for he himself held that it cannot be done even once.

Happiness is activity of soul.

When states are democratically governed according to law, there are no demagogues, and the best citizens are securely in the saddle; but where the laws are not sovereign, there you find demagogues. The people become a monarch... such people, in its role as a monarch, not being controlled by law, aims at sole power and becomes like a master.

A true friend is one soul in two bodies.

It is well said, then, that it is by doing just acts that the just man is produced, and by doing temperate acts the temperate man; without doing these no one would have even a prospect of becoming good.

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.

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

Happiness seems to require a modicum of external prosperity.

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.

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

Philosophy can make people sick.

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.

The physician heals Nature makes well.

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

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

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

Criticism is something you can easily avoid — by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

Art not only imitates nature but also completes its deficiencies.

Those who are not angry at the things they should be angry at are thought to be fools, and so are those who are not angry in the right way, at the right time, or with the right persons.

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

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

The end toward which all human acts are directed is happiness.

The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor; it is the one thing that cannot be learnt from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in the dissimilar.

Wit is educated insolence.

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.

The secret to humor is surprise.

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

We shall learn the qualities of governments in the same way as we learn the qualities of individuals, since they are revealed in their deliberate acts of choice; and these are determined by the end that inspires them.

All men by nature desire to know.

One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try.

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

The beginning seems to be more than half of the whole.

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

Even subjects that are known are known only to a few

To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character.

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

They are fond of fun and therefore witty, wit being well-bred insolence.