Aristotle Quotes on Politics, Religion, Ethics and Friendship
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. He is still considered as one of the greatest thinkers in psychology, politics and ethics. He is considered as the father of western philosophy.
Born – 384 BC
Died – 322 BC
Occupation – Philosopher and Scientist
Main Interests – Psychology, biology, physics, logic, poetry, ethics, politics, zoology, music, economics, etc.
“The well is not enough to be happy, but evil enough to make him unhappy” ― Aristotle
“The good is that toward which everything tends to be” ― Aristotle
“Selfishness is not self-love, but an inordinate passion for self” ― Aristotle
“We must behave with friends as we would like them to behave with self” ― Aristotle
“Temperance is a mean with regard to pleasures” ― Aristotle
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” ― Aristotle
“The human good is an activity of soul according to virtue” ― Aristotle
“The happiness of life is assessed at the end of a life” ― Aristotle
“Happiness is for those who are sufficient unto themselves” ― Aristotle
“Happiness is an end in itself” ― Aristotle
“The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.” ― Aristotle
“This is by righteousness that we become righteous practicing temperance, temperate; practicing courage, brave” ― Aristotle
“Knowledge is remembering” ― Aristotle
“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
“There is no genius without some touch of madness” ― Aristotle
“You will never do anything in the world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” ― Aristotle
“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
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” ― Aristotle
“The passion is not appropriate for all ages, but only to youth” ― Aristotle
“Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.” ― Aristotle
“Time is the number of movement” ― Aristotle
“The happy life is thought to be one of excellence; now an excellent life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement. If Eudaimonia, or happiness, is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence; and this will be that of the best thing in us.” ― Aristotle
“A friend is a second self” ― Aristotle
“We do not know if we ignore the real causes” ― Aristotle
“It is this simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences—makes them, as the poets tell us, ‘charm the crowd’s ears more finely.’ Educated men lay down broad general principles; uneducated men argue from common knowledge and draw obvious conclusions.” ― Aristotle
“Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies” ― Aristotle
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life: the whole aim and end of human existence.” ― Aristotle
“Whoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god” ― Aristotle
“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances” ― Aristotle
“It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions” ― Aristotle
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit” ― Aristotle
“The secret of business is to know something nobody else knows” ― Aristotle
“Happiness is an expression of the soul in considered actions.” ― Aristotle
“Whatsoever that be within us that feels, thinks, desires, and animates, is something celestial, divine, and, consequently, imperishable” ― Aristotle
“The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal” ― Aristotle
“It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.” ― Aristotle
“The main purpose of politics is to create friendship among members of the city” ― Aristotle
“The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think” ― Aristotle
“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.” ― Aristotle
“Happiness does not lie in amusement; it would be strange if one were to take trouble and suffer hardship all one’s life in order to amuse oneself” ― Aristotle
“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.” ― Aristotle
“Love is composed of single soul inhabiting two bodies.” ― Aristotle
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work” ― Aristotle
“Friendship is a form of equality comparable to justice. Each makes the other similar benefits to those he has received” ― Aristotle
“Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” ― Aristotle
“The ignorant says the learned doubt, the wise thinking” ― Aristotle
“Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.” ― Aristotle
“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” ― Aristotle
“Man is a political animal” ― Aristotle
“For what is the best choice, for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve.” ― Aristotle
“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” ― Aristotle
“Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” ― Aristotle
“Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.” ― Aristotle
“He who can not live in society, or who needs nothing because he is sufficient unto itself, no part of the state, is a brute or a god” ― Aristotle
“I have gained this by philosophy that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.” ― Aristotle
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” ― Aristotle
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it” ― Aristotle
“Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” ― Aristotle
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” ― Aristotle
“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” ― Aristotle
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all” ― Aristotle
“Most people would rather give than get affection.” ― Aristotle
“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” ― Aristotle
“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.” ― Aristotle
“To perceive is to suffer.” ― Aristotle
“Whosoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god.” ― Aristotle
“It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world” ― Aristotle
“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
“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
“All virtue is summed up in dealing justly” ― Aristotle
“A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one” ― Aristotle
“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
“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
“The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes” ― Aristotle
“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
“No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye” ― Aristotle
“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
“No one loves the man whom he fears” ― Aristotle
“Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit” ― Aristotle
“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
