Top 1292 Quotes & Sayings by Aristotle - Page 3

Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated.

Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.

The generality of men are naturally apt to be swayed by fear rather than reverence, and to refrain from evil rather because of the punishment that it brings than because of its own foulness.

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.

Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves.

Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.

Long-lived persons have one or two lines which extend through the whole hand; short-lived persons have two lines not extending through the whole hand.

The eyes of some persons are large, others small, and others of a moderate size; the last-mentioned are the best. And some eyes are projecting, some deep-set, and some moderate, and those which are deep-set have the most acute vision in all animals; the middle position is a sign of the best disposition.

But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.

He who can be, and therefore is, another's, and he who participates in reason enough to apprehend, but not to have, is a slave by nature.

In constructing the plot and working it out with the proper diction, the poet should place the scene, as far as possible, before his eyes. In this way, seeing everything with the utmost vividness, as if he were a spectator of the action, he will discover what is in keeping with it, and be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies.

Man is the only animal capable of reasoning, though many others possess the faculty of memory and instruction in common with him.

Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.

Law is mind without reason.

Whether if soul did not exist time would exist or not, is a question that may fairly be asked; for if there cannot be someone to count there cannot be anything that can be counted, so that evidently there cannot be number; for number is either what has been, or what can be, counted.

Bad men are full of repentance.

The true and the approximately true are apprehended by the same faculty; it may also be noted that men have a sufficient natural instinct for what is true, and usually do arrive at the truth. Hence the man who makes a good guess at truth is likely to make a good guess at probabilities.

A tragedy is a representation of an action that is whole and complete and of a certain magnitude. A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end.

Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.

We praise a man who feels angry on the right grounds and against the right persons and also in the right manner at the right moment and for the right length of time.

No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world.

It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world.

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.

We are not angry with people we fear or respect, as long as we fear or respect them; you cannot be afraid of a person and also at the same time angry with him.

No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.

Some animals utter a loud cry. Some are silent, and others have a voice, which in some cases may be expressed by a word; in others, it cannot. There are also noisy animals and silent animals, musical and unmusical kinds, but they are mostly noisy about the breeding season.

Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government.

A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.

Those who excel in virtue have the best right of all to rebel, but then they are of all men the least inclined to do so.

Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of the nature of universals, whereas those of history are singulars.

Some kinds of animals burrow in the ground; others do not. Some animals are nocturnal, as the owl and the bat; others use the hours of daylight. There are tame animals and wild animals. Man and the mule are always tame; the leopard and the wolf are invariably wild, and others, as the elephant, are easily tamed.

Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.

What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.

Only an armed people can be truly free. Only an unarmed people can ever be enslaved.

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.

Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible.

He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.

Life is only meaningful when we are striving for a goal .

A fool contributes nothing worth hearing and takes offense at everything.

Our problem is not that we aim too high and miss, but that we aim too low and hit.

To appreciate the beauty of a snow flake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.

The more you know, the more you know you don't know.

Greatness of spirit is accompanied by simplicity and sincerity.

Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.

Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances.

The best things are placed between extremes.

At the intersection where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein you will discover your purpose

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

Doubt is the beginning of wisdom

Tyrants preserve themselves by sowing fear and mistrust among the citizens by means of spies, by distracting them with foreign wars, by eliminating men of spirit who might lead a revolution, by humbling the people, and making them incapable of decisive action.

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

The weak are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay no heed to either.

A tragedy is that moment where the hero comes face to face with his true identity.

The fool tells me his reason; the wise man persuades me with my own.

Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.

It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil.

The worst thing about slavery is that the slaves eventually get to like it.