Aristotle Quotes - Page 45

• Democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers, and oligarchy in which the rich; it is only an accident that the free are the many and the rich are the few.

  Aristotle

  Government, Democracy, Oligarchy

  Aristotle (2013). “The Essential Aristotle”, p.301, Simon and Schuster

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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 mere companionship.

  Aristotle

  Government, Political, Noble

  "Politics". Book by Aristotle. Book III, 1280b.30 - 1281a.3,

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• For any two portions of fire, small or great, will exhibit the same ratio of solid to void; but the upward movement of the greater is quicker than that of the less, just as the downward movement of a mass of gold or lead, or of any other body endowed with weight, is quicker in proportion to its size.

  Aristotle

  Science, Fire, Two

  Aristotle, (2014). “Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 1: The Revised Oxford Translation”, p.505, Princeton University Press

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• Concerning the generation of animals akin to them, as hornets and wasps, the facts in all cases are similar to a certain extent, but are devoid of the extraordinary features which characterize bees; this we should expect, for they have nothing divine about them as the bees have.

  Aristotle

  Animal, Generations, Facts

  Aristotle (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Aristotle (Illustrated)”, p.1790, Delphi Classics

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• Thus then a single harmony orders the composition of the whole...by the mingling of the most contrary principles.

  Aristotle

  Order, Unity, Principles

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• Every effort therefore must be made to perpetuate prosperity. And, since that is to the advantage of the rich as well as the poor, all that accrues from the revenues should be collected into a single fund and distributed in block grants to those in need, if possible in lump sums large enough for the acquisition of a small piece of land, but if not, enough to start a business, or work in agriculture. And if that cannot be done for all, the distribution might be by tribes or some other division each in turn.

  Aristotle

  Block, Agriculture, Land

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• Rhetoric is useful because the true and the just are naturally superior to their opposites, so that, if decisions are improperly made, they must owe their defeat to their own advocates; which is reprehensible. Further, in dealing with certain persons, even if we possessed the most accurate scientific knowledge, we should not find it easy to persuade them by the employment of such knowledge. For scientific discourse is concerned with instruction, but in the case of such persons instruction is impossible.

  Aristotle

  Opposites, Decision, Employment

  Aristotle, John Henry Freese (1926). “Aristotle: the art of rhetoric”, Loeb Classical Library

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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.

  Aristotle

  Writing, Mean, Style

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• But nature flies from the infinite; for the infinite is imperfect, and nature always seeks an end.

  Aristotle

  Nature, Science, Imperfect

  Aristotle, (2014). “Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 1: The Revised Oxford Translation”, p.1112, Princeton University Press

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• 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

  Nature, Equality, Desire

  Aristotle (2016). “Politics”, p.58, Aristotle

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• Equality is of two kinds, numerical and proportional; by the first I mean sameness of equality in number or size; by the second, equality of ratios.

  Aristotle

  Mean, Numbers, Government

  Aristotle, Stephen Everson (1996). “Aristotle: The Politics and the Constitution of Athens”, p.121, Cambridge University Press

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

  Aristotle

  Nature, Science, Action

  Aristotle, (2014). “Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation”, p.1738, Princeton University Press

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• Not every action or emotion however admits of the observance of a due mean. Indeed the very names of some directly imply evil, for instance malice, shamelessness, envy, and, of actions, adultery, theft, murder. All these and similar actions and feelings are blamed as being bad in themselves; it is not the excess or deficiency of them that we blame. It is impossible therefore ever to go right in regard to them - one must always be wrong.

  Aristotle

  Mean, Names, Evil

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• The majority of mankind would seem to be beguiled into error by pleasure, which, not being really a good, yet seems to be so. So that they indiscriminately choose as good whatsoever gives them pleasure, while they avoid all pain alike as evil.

  Aristotle

  Pain, Errors, Evil

  Aristotle (1869). “The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle”, p.74

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• It is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits

  Aristotle

  Men, Class, Looks

  Aristotle (2013). “The Essential Aristotle”, p.487, Simon and Schuster

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• This body is not a home, but an inn; and that only for a short time. Seneca Friendship is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

  Aristotle

  Home, Two, Soul

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• ... the good for man is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, or if there are more kinds of virtue than one, in accordance with the best and most perfect kind.

  Aristotle

  Men, Perfect, Soul

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• We must speak first about the division of land and about those who cultivate it: who should they be and what kind of person? We do not agree with those who have said that property should be communally owned, but we do believe that there should be a friendly arrangement for its common use, and that none of the citizens should be without means of support.

  Aristotle

  Wisdom, Believe, Mean

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• For pleasure is a state of soul, and to each man that which he is said to be a lover of is pleasant.

  Aristotle

  Men, Soul, Lovers

  Aristotle (2013). “The Essential Aristotle”, p.495, Simon and Schuster

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• Happiness is at once the best, the noblest, and the pleasantest of things.

  Aristotle

  Happiness, Nicomachean Ethics

  Aristotle (1934). “The Nicomachean ethics”

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• When we look at the matter from another point of view, great caution would seem to be required. For the habit of lightly changing the laws is an evil, and, when the advantage is small, some errors both of lawgivers and rulers had better be left; the citizen will not gain so much by making the change as he will lose by the habit of disobedience.

  Aristotle

  Errors, Views, Law

  Aristotle (2016). “Politics”, p.63, Aristotle

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• Virtue also depends on ourselves. And so also does vice. For where we are free to act we are also free to refrain from acting, and where we are able to say No we are also able to say Yes; if therefore we are responsible for doing a thing when to do it right, we are also responsible for not doing it when not to do it is wrong, and if we are responsible for rightly not doing a thing, we are also responsible for wrongly doing it.

  Aristotle

  Acting, Vices, Doe

  Aristotle (1996). “The Nicomachean Ethics”, p.62, Wordsworth Editions

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• In cases of this sort, let us say adultery, rightness and wrongness do not depend on committing it with the right woman at the right time and in the right manner, but the mere fact of committing such action at all is to do wrong.

  Aristotle

  Time, Facts, Action

  "Nicomachean Ethics". Book by Aristotle. Book II, 1107a.15,

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• All food must be capable of being digested, and that what produces digestion is warmth; that is why everything that has soul in it possesses warmth.

  Aristotle

  Soul, Digestion, Produce

  Aristotle, Aeterna Press (2015). “On the Soul”, p.40, Aeterna Press

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• Youth should stay away from all evil, especially things that produce wickedness and ill-will.

  Aristotle

  Parenting, Ill Will, Evil

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