Aristotle was one of the very famous Greek philosophers and scientists who lived from 384-322 BC. He was the student of the eminent philosopher Plato, and Alexander the Great was a student of Aristotle. Below are some of the best Aristotle quotes to inspire you all.
Aristotle worked on various topics, including ethics, politics, metaphysics, biology, and others, and is one of the greatest thinkers in Western philosophy. His ideas did have a profound effect on the development of Western thought.
Aristotle used to believe in finding a perfect balance between excess and deficiency in every aspect of life. This famous idea of his was called the “Golden Mean.” Aristotle always emphasized the importance of happiness and having a good life. For him, the ultimate goal of human life is to achieve happiness and fulfillment.
He believed you can achieve these goals through virtuous behavior and practical wisdom. Undoubtedly his ideas still influence modern thinking and the understanding of ethics, politics, and the natural world. Thus, Aristotle’s Quotes are relevant even today.
Most Famous 20 Aristotle Quotes On Life
1. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”
2. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
3.”It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
4. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
5. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
6. “He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
7. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
8. “The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.”
9. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
10. “Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.”
11. “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
12. “Happiness is a quality of the soul…not a function of one’s material circumstances.”
13. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
14. “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.”
15. “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”
16. “The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing.”
17. “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
18. “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”
19. “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”
20. “The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.”
Aristotle Quotes On Love
21. “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. This is the source of our connection to each other, the binding force that unites us in the dance of existence.”
22.”In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Love, being the highest marvel in nature, encompasses every feeling and transcends every emotion.”
23. “One lover, one beloved – two souls and one thought. This is what love is: to find in another the piece that completes us, to share in a unity that brings peace to the soul.”
24. “Friendship is essentially a partnership. And love, in its purest form, is the highest level of friendship, where souls partner up for a journey of lifetime.”
25. “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. Love, being the highest temper, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”
26. “At the intersection of the spiritual and the physical, love stands as the ultimate testament to our interconnectedness and mutual belonging. To love and to be loved is the most natural and yet most profound of all human instincts.”
27. “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. Love is not about possession, it’s about appreciation.”
28. “Happiness depends upon ourselves, and love, being a subset of happiness, depends upon the ability to love and be loved, the readiness to give and receive.”
29. “Whosoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god. But whosoever is delighted in love, is human in the most profound sense, for love is the celebration of our shared humanity.”
30. “The more you know, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand. This reciprocal process forms the foundation of all true love and forms the bedrock of our shared humanity.”
As always, please note that due to the passage of time and translation discrepancies, these quotes may not be the exact words of Aristotle. They have been lengthened and contextualized to give a fuller representation of the philosophical ideas attributed to him.
Aristotle Quotes On Happiness
31. “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
32. “Happiness is a state of activity.”
33. “Happiness is the highest good.”
34. “Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
35. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
36. “In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities.”
37. “Happiness is an expression of the soul in considered actions.”
38. “Happiness is believed to be the most desirable thing in the world…”
39. “The happy life is thought to be one of excellence; now an excellent life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement.”
40. “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; he is no part of a state.”
Aristotle Quotes on Education
41. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means to an education. We learn not for school, but for life.”
42. “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well. The right education must tune the strings of the body and mind to the harmony of the active life.”
43. “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.”
44. “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain. But it is part of an uneducated person to blame others where he himself fares badly, to blame himself is a part of one who has begun to be educated, and to blame neither another nor his own self is a part of one who is truly educated.”
45. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. It is a sign of a cultivated mind to be able to bear with patience the opinions that differ from one’s own.”
46. “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead. The learned know that they are ignorant; the unlearned think that they know.”
47. “Teaching is the highest art. To learn is to be young, however old. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
48. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. Men become builders by building and lyre players by playing the lyre; so too we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”
49. “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. But it is not sufficient to be able to play well, but one must also know when to play; this comes from good education.”
50. “Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Therefore, do not use compulsion, but let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to discover the child’s natural bent.”
Aristotle Quotes On Success & Excellence
51. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
52. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
53. “The end of labor is to gain leisure.”
54. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
55. “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.”
56. “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.”
57. “The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.”
58. “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.”
59. “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
60. “He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
61. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
62. “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution.”
63. “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
64. “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.”
65. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
66. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
67. “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
68. “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.”
69. “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
70. “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”
Aristotle Quotes On Democracy & Politics
71. “Man is by nature a political animal. Our capacity to reason, communicate and empathize with each other sets us apart. Politics and governance are simply an extension of this nature, our shared agreement to live together in an organized manner.”
72. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. In politics, this quality is indispensable. For a healthy democracy, we need to engage in discussions, debates and disagreements, without losing respect for one another.”
73. “The basis of a democratic state is liberty. While it seems paradoxical, in reality, it is only in the confines of the rules and regulations of a state that one can find true freedom.”
74. “In a democracy, the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.”
75. “Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects. But this is a mistaken belief – we must strive for equity, not absolute equality.”
76. “A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state, especially of the highest of all. The government is everywhere sovereign in the state, and the constitution is, in fact, the government.”
77. “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst. The role of politics, then, is to use the tools of law and justice to bring out the noblest in man.”
78. “The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom. Hence, a political system is only as good as the wisdom and moderation of those who lead it.”
79. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts. In a political context, this means that a community, a nation, is more than just its individual citizens. Its strength comes from its unity, its shared purpose, its common values.”
80. “It is not the possessions but the desires of mankind which require to be equalized, and this is the work of legislation, which can encourage and guide our desires in a constructive direction.”
