Aristotle Quotes
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A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.
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But is it just then that the few and the wealthy should be the rulers? And what if they, in like manner, rob and plunder the people, - is this just?
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Any change of government which has to be introduced should be one which men, starting from their existing constitutions, will be both willing and able to adopt, since there is quite as much trouble in the reformation of an old constitution as in the establishment of a new one, just as to unlearn is as hard as to learn.
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A right election can only be made by those who have knowledge.
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No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.
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Although it may be difficult in theory to know what is just and equal, the practical difficulty of inducing those to forbear who can, if they like, encroach, is far greater, for the weaker are always asking for equality and justice, but the stronger care for none of these things.
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The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things.
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...in this way the structure of the universe- I mean, of the heavens and the earth and the whole world- was arranged by one harmony through the blending of the most opposite principles.
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This world is inescapably linked to the motions of the worlds above. All power in this world is ruled by these options.
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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.
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Whether we call it sacrifice, or poetry, or adventure, it is always the same voice that calls.
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Good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government.
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That judges of important causes should hold office for life is a disputable thing, for the mind grows old as well as the body.
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It may be argued that peoples for whom philosophers legislate are always prosperous.
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The perversions are as follows: of royalty, tyranny; of aristocracy, oligarchy; of constitutional government, democracy.
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They who have drunk beer, fall on their back, but there is a peculiarity in the effects of the drink made from barley, for they that get drunk on other intoxicating liquors fall on all parts of their body, they fall on the left side, on the right side, on their faces, and and on their backs. But it is only those who get drunk on beer that fall on their backs with their faces upward.
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Tragedy is an imitation not of men but of a life, an action.
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If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.
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A good style must, first of all, be clear. It must not be mean or above the dignity of the subject. It must be appropriate.
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Marriage is like retiring as a bachelor and getting a sexual pension. You don't have to work for the sex any more, but you only get 65% as much.
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The same things are best both for individuals and for states, and these are the things which the legislator ought to implant in the minds of his citizens.
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So we must lay it down that the association which is a state exists not for the purpose of living together but for the sake of noble actions. Those who contribute most to this kind of association are for that very reason entitled to a larger share in the state than those who, though they may be equal or even superior in free birth and in family, are inferior in the virtue that belongs to a citizen. Similarly they are entitled to a larger share than those who are superior in riches but inferior in virtue.
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Therefore only an utterly senseless person can fail to know that our characters are the result of our conduct.
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Equity is that idea of justice which contravenes the written law.