quote · Legacy record
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.
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.
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 1010; PDF page 89; printed attribution: ARISTOTLE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.