Aristotle was a philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, the founder of the Lyceum and the Peripatetic school of philosophy and Aristotelian tradition. Along with his teacher Plato, he is considered the “Father of Western Philosophy”. His writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and government.
Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him, and it was above all from his teachings that the West inherited its intellectual lexicon, as well as problems and methods of inquiry. As a result, his philosophy has exerted a unique influence on almost every form of knowledge in the West and it continues to be a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Some of the best quotes from Aristotle are listed below.
- “A friend to all is a friend to none.” – Aristotle
- “All men by nature desire to know.” – Aristotle
- “All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.” – Aristotle
- “All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.” – 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
- “Change in all things is sweet.” – Aristotle
- “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” – Aristotle
- “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” – Aristotle
- “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle
- “Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.” – Aristotle
- “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
- “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
- “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
- “First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” – Aristotle
- “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” – Aristotle
- “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” – Aristotle
- “Happiness belongs to the self sufficient.” – Aristotle
- “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle
- “Happiness is a state of activity.” – Aristotle
- “Happiness is an expression of the soul in considered actions.” – Aristotle
- “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life: the whole aim and end of human existence.” – Aristotle
- “He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.” – Aristotle
- “He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.” – Aristotle
- “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.” – Aristotle
- “I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.” – 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
- “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” – Aristotle
- “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” – Aristotle
- “It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.” – Aristotle
- “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle
- “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” – Aristotle
- “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle
- “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle
- “Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” – Aristotle
- “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.” – Aristotle
- “Men are swayed more by fear than by reverence.” – Aristotle
- “Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.” – Aristotle
- “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
- “My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.” – Aristotle
- “Nature does nothing uselessly.” – Aristotle
- “No happy man can become miserable, for he will never do acts that are hateful and mean.” – Aristotle
- “No one loves the man whom he fears.” – Aristotle
- “One thing alone not even God can do, To make undone whatever hath been done.” – Aristotle
- “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle
- “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” – Aristotle
- “Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.” – Aristotle
- “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.” – Aristotle
- “The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.” – Aristotle
- “The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.” – Aristotle
- “The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand fold.” – Aristotle
- “The proof that you know something is that you are able to teach it.” – Aristotle
- “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” – Aristotle
- “The soul never thinks without a picture. Hope is the dream of a waking man.” – Aristotle
- “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” – Aristotle
- “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” – Aristotle
- “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” – Aristotle
- “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” – Aristotle
- “Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.” – Aristotle
- “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
- “Through discipline comes freedom.” – Aristotle
- “To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence.” – Aristotle
- “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
- “We cannot learn without pain.” – Aristotle
- “We give up leisure in order that we may have leisure, just as we go to war in order that we may have peace.” – Aristotle
- “We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” – Aristotle
- “Well begun is half done.” – Aristotle
- “What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” – Aristotle
- “Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.” – Aristotle
- “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” – Aristotle
