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Aristotle

Life dates: 384 BC — 322 BC

Author attribution printed in a contributor-provided reference. Basic identity; lifetime and independent quotation authenticity are not established here.

▷ Play this voiceSearch these words ↗Place in time ↗truthfaithjusticecharacterfriendshippeacenaturewealth

Quotations and sayings

02c. 353 BC
Those who assert that the mathematical sciences say nothing of the beautiful or the good are in error. For these sciences say and prove a great deal about them; if they do not expressly mention them, but prove attributes, which are their results or definitions, it is not true that they tell us nothing about them. The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree. For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all, since armed injustice is the more dangerous, meant to be used by intelligence and virtue, he is the most unholy and savage of all animals,... 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.
Aristotle / quote
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05c. 353 BC
POLITICA Prívate property makes man happier, and enables him to cultivate such virtues as generosity. In democracies, revolutions may arise from persecution of the rich. Liberty is the first principle of democracy. The good ruler is the same as good man. Hence is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal. The real difference between democracy and oligarchy is poverty and wealth. Wherever men rule by reason of their wealth, whether they are few or many, that is an oligarchy, and where the poor rule, that is a democracy. Many are more incorruptible than the few. Democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers. Democracy, for example, arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal. Equality is of two kinds, numerical and proportional. Where absolute freedom is allowed there is nothing to restrain the evil which is inherent in every man. Neglect of education does harm to the constitution.
Aristotle / quote
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07c. 353 BC
Sometimes is more desirable to seem just than to be just. Wondering implies the desire of learning. Honor is the token of a man’s being famous for doing good. If a man has often success - he can take the credit not luck. Only rich men are able to command endless pleasures. There are crimes for which is no punishment severe enough to be adequate. Not to use the laws is as bad as not to have laws at all. The cause of pleasure enjoyed by the insolent man is that he thinks himself greatly superior to others when ill-treating them. Life on the whole is a bad business. Responsibility makes one serious. That if anything is possible to inferior, weaker, and stupider people, it is more so for their opposites. Presently, there came a stag and began to spoil his pasturage. The horse, wishing to revenge himself on the stag, asked a man if he could help him to do so. The man said: “Yes, if you will let me bridle you and get on to your back with javelins in my hand”. The horse agreed, and the man mounted; but instead of getting his revenge on the stag, the horse found himself the slave of the man. No particular probability is universally probable: for what is improbable does happen, and therefore it is probable that improbable things will happen
Aristotle / quote
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