Aristotle Quotes


Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

Aristotle

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

Aristotle (Politics)

The basis of a democratic state is liberty.

Aristotle (Politics)

In the arena of human life the honours and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities.

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

The energy of the mind is the essence of life.

Aristotle (Metaphysics)

Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.

Aristotle (Politics)

Hope is a waking dream.

Aristotle (Attributed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius in Lives of Eminent Philosopher)

We make war that we may live in peace.

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

Man is by nature a political animal.

Aristotle (Politics)

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Aristotle (Politics)

Education is the best provision for the journey to old age.

Aristotle (Attributed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius in Lives of Eminent Philosopher)

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

Aristotle (Parts of Animals)

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.

Aristotle (Politics)

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

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

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

Aristotle (Politics)

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

Aristotle

They should rule who are able to rule best.

Aristotle (Politics)

It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences.

Aristotle (Rhetoric)

Everything that depends on the action of nature is by nature as good as it can be.

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

Nature does nothing uselessly.

Aristotle (Politics)

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

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

Liars when they speak the truth are not believed.

Aristotle (Attributed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius in Lives of Eminent Philosopher)

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

Aristotle

Wit is well-bred insolence.

Aristotle (Rhetoric)

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

Aristotle (Rhetoric)

Again, men in general desire the good, and not merely what their fathers had.

Aristotle (Politics)

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.

Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics)

Bad men are full of repentance.

Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics, 325 BCE)

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

Aristotle (Rhetoric)

Aristotle Biography

Born: 384 BCE
Died: 322 BCE

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher. He is considered to be, along with Plato and Socrates, the most important founding figures in Western Philosophy.

Notable Works

Metaphysics
Politics
The Nicomachean Ethics
(325 BCE)
Eudemian Ethics
Poetics
Rhetoric