quote · Legacy record
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.
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.
Approximate author period: c. 353 BC · classical
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- Author or tradition
- Aristotle
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 353 BC · classical
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates -384 to -322; Wikidata Q868, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q868 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 1013; PDF page 90; printed attribution: ARISTOTLE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.