Aristotle Quotes
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To know what virtue is is not enough; we must endeavor to possess and to practice it, or in some other manner actually ourselves to become good.
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The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.
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No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.
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Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances.
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The roots of education … are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
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Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
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A state is not a mere society, having a common place, established for the prevention of mutual crime and for the sake of exchange.... Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of mere companionship.
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Even the best of men in authority are liable to be corrupted by passion. We may conclude then that the law is reason without passion, and it is therefore preferable to any individual.
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Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.
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...happiness is an activity and a complete utilization of virtue, not conditionally but absolutely.
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In everything, it is no easy task to find the middle.
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Nature does nothing uselessly.
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The true end of tragedy is to purify the passions.
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The soul of man may be divided into two parts; that which has reason in itself, and that which hath not, but is capable of obeying its dictates.
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Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.
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Happiness, then, is co-extensive with contemplation, and the more people contemplate, the happier they are; not incidentally, but in virtue of their contemplation, because it is in itself precious. Thus happiness is a form of contemplation.
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If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.
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You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
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Every man should be responsible to others, nor should any one be allowed to do just as he pleases; for where absolute freedom is allowed, there is nothing to restrain the evil which is inherent in every man.
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The guest will judge better of a feast than the cook.
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Remember that time slurs over everything, let all deeds fade, blurs all writings and kills all memories. Exempt are only those which dig into the hearts of men by love.
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Why is it that all men who are outstanding in philosophy, poetry or the arts are melancholic?
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By 'life,' we mean a thing that can nourish itself and grow and decay.
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Madness is badness of spirit, when one seeks profit from all sources.