Aristotle quotes
Student of Plato, tutor of Alexander. His Nicomachean Ethics defines virtue as the mean between extremes, and happiness as activity of soul in accord with virtue.
28 passages across 16 themes. More on Aristotle.
On mind
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
“Knowledge of the fact differs from knowledge of the reason for the fact.”
“If a man knows what it is right to do, he does not require a formal reason. And a person that has been thus trained, either possesses these first principles already, or can easily acquire them. (Bk I, Ch II)”
“Now men seem, not unreasonably, to form their notions of the supreme good and of happiness from the lives of men.”
On presence
“The essential nature (concerning the soul) cannot be corporeal, yet it is also clear that this soul is present in a particular bodily part, and this one of the parts having control over the rest (heart).”
“Music directly represents the passion of the soul. If one listens to the wrong kind of music, he will become the wrong kind of person.”
“There are three lines of life which stand out prominently to view: the life of pleasure, the political life, and the life of reflection.”
“Now the mass of mankind are plainly... choosing a life like that of brute animals... (Bk. 1, Chapter III)”
On character
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
“The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else.”
On joy
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
“The majority of mankind and people who lack refinement conceive it to be pleasure, and hence they approve a life of sensual enjoyment. (Bk. 1, Chapter III)”
On truth
“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.”
“Nature flies from the infinite, for the infinite is unending or imperfect, and Nature ever seeks an end.”
On action
“That body is heavier than another which, in an equal bulk, moves downward quicker.”
“For the things we have to learn before we can do, we learn by doing.”
On kindness
“The male has more teeth than the female in mankind, and sheep, and goats, and swine. This has not been observed in other animals.”
“The third kind of life is the life of contemplation (Bk. 1, Chapter III)”
On wisdom
“That which is desirable on its own account and for the sake of knowing it is more of the nature of wisdom than that which is desirable on account of its results.”
“The truly good and wise man will bear all kinds of fortune in a seemly way, and will always act in the noblest manner that the circumstances allow.”
On self-knowledge
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
On imagination
“The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”
On wholeness
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
On discipline
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
On freedom
“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
On genius
“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”
On listening
“My lectures are published and not published; they will be intelligible to those who heard them, and to none beside.”
On friendship
“While both are dear, Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.”