Top 90 Aristotle Quotes That Will Upgrade Your Thinking

Looking for the best and inspirational Aristotle quotes?

Aristotle is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of philosophy. He is regarded as the first true philosopher, and his work had an enormous impact on many other philosophers, such as Plato and Descartes. Aristotle was born in Stagira in 384 BC to a wealthy family. He spent his childhood studying rhetoric and became an accomplished writer who wrote poetry, plays, speeches, and philosophical works that he delivered orally.

One of his most influential works is “Poetics,” which was initially called “Rhetoric.” In this work, Aristotle argues that drama should be based on truth rather than fiction or fantasy. He also outlines what makes a good story – suspense and interest.

He died in 322 BC at the age of 62, and we remember him on April 27th – International Day of Philosophers. He is always known for his belief that rhetoric should aim to please its audience rather than instruct them on moral or ethical principles.

Here are some of his most inspiring quotes that will get you thinking and get you working to be motivated.

90 Aristotle Quotes That Will Upgrade Your Thinking

“It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions.”

“Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.”

“Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.”

“He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.”

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

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

“Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.”

“It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.”

“For what is the best choice, for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve.”

“Change in all things is sweet.”

“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”

“The soul never thinks without a picture. Hope is the dream of a waking man.”

“We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

“The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”

“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”

“Learning is not child’s play; we cannot learn without pain.”

“It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.”

“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.”

“Patience is bitter, but it’s fruit is sweet.”

“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.”

“All human beings, by nature, desire to know.”

“Happiness is a state of activity.”

“All men by nature desire knowledge.”

“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”

“Whatever lies within our power to do lies also within our power not to do.”

“Through discipline comes freedom.”

“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.”

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

“Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.”

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”

“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

“A friend to all is a friend to none.”

“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”

“We must be neither cowardly nor rash but courageous.”

“If happiness is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence.”

“There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.”

“You will never do anything in the world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.”

“The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes.”

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

“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.”

“The difference between a learned man and an ignorant one is the same as that between a living man and a corpse.”

“Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of time and is forgotten through the lapse of time.”

“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.”

“Democracy arose from men’s thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.”

“The secret to humour is surprise.”

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.”

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

“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.”

“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.”

“What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” – Aristotle

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

“Equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons.”

“Happiness is activity.”

“Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.”

“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotism.”

“Hope is a waking dream.”

“It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.”

“There is one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”

“Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.”

“One thing alone not even God can do, To make undone whatever hath been done.”

“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”

“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.”

“To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.”

“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self.”

“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand fold.”

“You will never do anything in this world without courage, it is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour.”

“Memory is the scribe of the soul.”

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

“We think in pictures. If you wish to change what you think, change the picture.”

“Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.”

“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.”

“Well begun is half done.”

“Hope is a waking dram.”

“Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.”

“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.”

“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”

“The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.”

“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.”

“We cannot learn without pain.”

“Nature does nothing uselessly.”

“The secret of success is to know something else nobody else knows.”

“The secret to humor is surprise.”

“It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

“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.”

“Men are swayed more by fear than by reverence.”

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is a habit.”

“Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.”

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