Aristotle
died 322
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath who lived from 384 to 322 BC. He is known for being one of the greatest thinkers in Western philosophy and for his contributions to a wide array of subjects including metaphysics, ethics, politics, biology, and logic. Aristotle was a student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great.
Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution.
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.
Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.
It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those who have expressed more superficial views; for these also contributed something, by developing before us the powers of thought.
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.
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.
He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
Man is the only animal capable of reasoning, though many others possess the faculty of memory and instruction in common with him.
Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful.
The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.
We become just by performing just action, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave action.
In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.
To attain any assured knowledge about the soul is one of the most difficult things in the world.
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
In anger, we should refrain both from speech and action.
Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.
Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. This is not a function of any other art.
Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.
Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbour to have them through envy.
At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.
The state comes into existence for the sake of life and continues to exist for the sake of good life.
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.
Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.
Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.