88 Aristotle Quotes to Illuminate Your Life with Timeless Wisdom

Aristotle, the renowned ancient Greek philosopher, has gifted us with a wealth of timeless wisdom that continues to resonate in the modern world. Aristotle quotes touch on a range of topics, from ethics and leadership to personal development and understanding human nature. In this article, we will delve into some of Aristotle’s most thought-provoking sayings, uncovering how his insights remain relevant and valuable for navigating today’s complex world. Whether you’re seeking guidance on personal growth or inspiration for effective leadership, Aristotle’s words offer enduring lessons that can illuminate your path.

Aristotle Quotes

1. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~ Aristotle

2. “We are what we do repeatedly. Excellence, then, is a habit, not an action.” ~ Aristotle

3. “All great geniuses have a touch of madness.” ~ Aristotle

4. “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” ~ Aristotle

5. “An educated mind is able to entertain a thought critically, without accepting it.” ~ Aristotle

6. “To be a good leader you must be a good follower.” ~ Aristotle
7. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~ Aristotle
8. “Poverty begets revolution and crime.” ~ Aristotle
9. “It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.” ~ Aristotle
10. “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.” ~ Aristotle
11. “Education is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” ~ Aristotle
12. “All knowledge should be subject to examination and reason.” ~ Aristotle
13. “Man is a political being.” ~ Aristotle
14. “All people by nature desire knowledge.” ~ Aristotle
15. “Love is a single soul inhabiting in two bodies.” ~ Aristotle
16. “Best friend is the person who wishes you well for your sake.” ~ Aristotle
17. “Virtue consists more in doing good than refraining from evil.” ~ Aristotle
18. “People acquire a particular quality by constantly acting according to it.” ~ Aristotle
19. “You will achieve nothing in this world without courage.” ~ Aristotle
20. “The sign of thorough knowledge is the ability to teach.” ~ Aristotle
21. “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” ~ Aristotle
22. “The value of life lies in the power of contemplation and not mere survival.” ~ Aristotle
23. “Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” ~ Aristotle
24. “The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” ~ Aristotle
25. “It is the mark of an instructed mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness when only an approximation of the truth is possible.” ~ Aristotle
26. “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.” ~ Aristotle
27. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” ~ Aristotle
28. “Praise invariably implies a reference to a higher standard.” ~ Aristotle
29. “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.” ~ Aristotle
30. “All human beings, by nature, desire to know.” ~ Aristotle

Aristotle Quote

31. “Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.” ~ Aristotle
32. “The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand fold.” ~ Aristotle
33. “Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.” ~ Aristotle
34. “The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.” ~ Aristotle
35. “The secret to humour is surprise.” ~ Aristotle
36. “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” ~ Aristotle
37. “This is the reason why mothers are more devoted to their children than fathers: it is that they suffer more in giving them birth and are more certain that they are their own.” ~ Aristotle
38. “To write well, express yourself like common people, but think like a wise man. Or, think as wise men do, but speak as the common people do.” ~ Aristotle
39. “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.” ~ Aristotle
40. “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” ~ Aristotle
41. “All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.” ~ Aristotle
42. “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” ~ Aristotle
43. “Dignity does not consist in possessing honours, but in deserving them.” ~ Aristotle
44. “Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – this is not easy.” ~ Aristotle
45. “Democracy arose from men’s thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.” ~ Aristotle
46. “The soul never thinks without a picture. Hope is the dream of a waking man.” ~ Aristotle
47. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” ~ Aristotle
48. “Equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons.” ~ Aristotle
49. “Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.” ~ Aristotle
50. “First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” ~ Aristotle
51. “Happiness is activity.” ~ Aristotle
52. “The law is reason, free from passion.” ~ Aristotle
53. “Hope is a waking dream.” ~ Aristotle
54. “Memory is the scribe of the soul.” ~ Aristotle
55. “Every rascal is not a thief, but every thief is a rascal.” ~ Aristotle
56. “Friendship is essentially a partnership.” ~ Aristotle
57. “Nature does nothing uselessly.” ~ Aristotle
58. “Education is the best provision for old age.” ~ Aristotle
59. “No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.” ~ Aristotle
60. “He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.” ~ Aristotle

Quotes by Aristotle

61. “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.” ~ Aristotle
62. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” ~ Aristotle
63. “It was through the feeling of wonder that men now and at first began to philosophize.” ~ Aristotle
64. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” ~ Aristotle
65. “The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life — knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.” ~ Aristotle
66. “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.” ~ Aristotle
67. “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” ~ Aristotle
68. “So it is naturally with the male and the female; the one is superior, the other inferior; the one governs, the other is governed; and the same rule must necessarily hold good with respect to all mankind.” ~ Aristotle
69. “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
70. “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.” ~ Aristotle
71. “It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions.” ~ Aristotle
72. “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” ~ Aristotle
73. “Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” ~ Aristotle
74. “Those who educate children well are more to be honoured than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.” ~ Aristotle
75. “What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” ~ Aristotle
76. “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” ~ Aristotle
77. “Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” ~ Aristotle
78. “If happiness is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence.” ~ Aristotle
79. “To the query, what is a friend? His reply was a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” ~ Aristotle
80. “Great men are always of a nature originally melancholy.” ~ Aristotle
81. “We give up leisure in order that we may have leisure, just as we go to war in order that we may have peace.” ~ Aristotle
82. “Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.” ~ Aristotle
83. “Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.” ~ Aristotle
84. “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” ~ Aristotle
85. “One thing alone not even God can do, to make undone whatever hath been done.” ~ Aristotle
86. “Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.” ~ Aristotle
87. “The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.” ~ Aristotle
88. “The most perfect political community must be among those who are in the middle rank, and those states are best instituted wherein these are a larger and more respectable part, if possible, than both the other; or, if that cannot be, at least than either of them separate.” ~ Aristotle