150 Best Aristotle Quotes You Must Read In 2021

Do you know about the great intellectual personality of Western history? Whenever you ask such a question, you’ll surely get the name of Aristotle (Greek Aristoteles). He is one of the most notable Greek philosophers and polymaths of the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Aristotle is the creator of Aristotelian tradition and Lyceum, the Peripatetic school of philosophy.

He was a great writer who wrote over diversified topics included but not limited to physics, biology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, politics, etc. He gave the west a great legacy of philosophy and knowledge, which still greatly influenced Western culture.

Here we have a list of 150 best quotes by Aristotle on inspiration excellence, happiness, friends, leadership, education, peace, democracy, and love. So, without wasting time, let’s get straight to it.

Aristotle Inspirational Quotes

1. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle
2. “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” — Aristotle
3. “If the art of shipbuilding were in the wood, ships would exist by nature.” — Aristotle
4. “The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.” — Aristotle
5. “Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.” — Aristotle
6. “Life is only meaningful when we are striving for a goal.” — Aristotle
7. “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.” — Aristotle
8. “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure but to avoid pain.” — Aristotle
9. “95% of everything you do is the result of habit.” — Aristotle
10. “What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” — Aristotle
11. “Think as the wise men think, but talk like the simple people do.” — Aristotle
12. “The fool tells me his reason; the wise man persuades me with my own.” — Aristotle
13. “To lead an orchestra, you must turn your back on the crowd.” — Aristotle
14. “We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.” — Aristotle
15. “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” — Aristotle
16. “There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip.” — Aristotle
17. “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” — Aristotle
18. “We become brave by doing brave acts.” — Aristotle
19. “Man is the meter of all things, the hand is the instrument of instruments, and the mind is the form of forms.” — Aristotle
20. “Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Give a man a poisoned fish; you feed him for the rest of his life.” — Aristotle
21. “The soul never thinks without a picture.” — Aristotle
22. “Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” — Aristotle
23. “We are the sum of our actions, and therefore our habits make all the difference.” — Aristotle
24. “A promise made must be a promise kept.” — Aristotle
25. “At the intersection where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein, you will discover your purpose.” — Aristotle
26. “Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible.” — Aristotle
27. “Virtue is the golden mean between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency.” — Aristotle
28. “The quality of life is determined by its activities.” — Aristotle
29. “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” — Aristotle
30. “Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.” — Aristotle
31. “The high-minded man does not bear grudges, for it is not the mark of a great soul to remember injuries but to forget them.” — Aristotle
32. “To perceive is to suffer.” — Aristotle
33. “All communication must lead to change.” — Aristotle
34. “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” — Aristotle
35. “The best way to avoid envy is to deserve the success you get.” — Aristotle
36. “In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.” — Aristotle
37. “The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” — Aristotle
38. “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” — Aristotle
39. “All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire.” — Aristotle
40. “Beauty is the gift of God.” — Aristotle
41. “The guest will judge better of a feast than the cook.” — Aristotle
42. “Nature does nothing uselessly.” — Aristotle
43. “Every realm of nature is marvelous.” — Aristotle
44. “Our problem is not that we aim too high and miss, but that we aim too low and hit.” — Aristotle
45. “All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.” — Aristotle
46. “Well begun is half done.” — Aristotle
47. “The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.” — Aristotle
48. “Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.”
49. “Fortune favors the bold.” — Aristotle
50. “A tragedy is that moment where the hero comes face to face with his true identity.” — Aristotle
51.  “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.” — Aristotle
52. “The physician heals; Nature makes well.” — Aristotle
53. “The misanthrope, as an essentially solitary man, is not a man at all: he must be a beast or a god…” — Aristotle
54. “To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” — Aristotle
55. “Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” — Aristotle
56.  “The senses are gateways to the intelligence. There is nothing in the intelligence which did not first pass through the senses.” — Aristotle
57. “The intelligence consists not only in the knowledge but also in the skill to apply the knowledge into practice.” — Aristotle
58. “I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.” — Aristotle
59. “When you ask a dumb question, you get a smart answer.” — Aristotle
60. “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” — Aristotle
61. “We work to earn our leisure.” — Aristotle
62. “Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation.” — Aristotle
63. “Quality is not an act; it is a habit.” — Aristotle
64. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” — Aristotle
65. “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” — Aristotle
66. “In the arena of human life, the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” — Aristotle
67. “A person’s life persuades better than his word.” — Aristotle
68. “Health is a matter of choice, not a mystery of chance.” — Aristotle
69.  “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.” — Aristotle
70. “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.” — Aristotle
71. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” — Aristotle
72. “Hope is a waking dream.” — Aristotle
73.  “Philosophy begins with wonder.” — Aristotle
74. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” — Aristotle
75. “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” — Aristotle
76. “Human beings are curious by nature.” — Aristotle
77. “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” — Aristotle
78. “Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society.” — Aristotle
79. “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” — Aristotle
80. Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes About Excellence

81. “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.” — Aristotle
82. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
83. “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.” — Aristotle
84. “Learning is not child’s play; we cannot learn without pain.” — Aristotle
85. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” — Aristotle
86. “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle
87. “Great men are always of a nature originally melancholy.” — Aristotle
88. “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” — Aristotle
89. “Greatness of spirit is accompanied by simplicity and sincerity.” — Aristotle
90. “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.” — Aristotle
91. “Speech is the representation of the mind, and writing is the representation of speech.” — Aristotle
92. “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes on Happiness

93. “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.” — Aristotle
94. “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” — Aristotle
95. “Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.” — Aristotle
96. “Happiness is a state of activity.” — Aristotle
97. “One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly, one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.” — Aristotle
98. “True happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise, all you’re having is immediate gratification pleasure, which is fleeting and doesn’t grow you as a person.” — Aristotle
99. “Happiness is the highest good.” — Aristotle
100.  “Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes About Friends

101. “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” — Aristotle
102. “The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.” — Aristotle
103. “A friend to all is a friend to none.” — Aristotle
104. “Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.” — Aristotle
105. “Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” — Aristotle
106. “Friends hold a mirror up to each other; through that mirror, they can see each other in ways that would not otherwise be accessible to them, and it is this mirroring that helps them improve themselves as persons.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes About Education

107. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” — Aristotle
108. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” — Aristotle
109.  “Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” — Aristotle
110.  “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle
111. “Fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” — Aristotle
112. “Music has the power of producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it has the power to do this, it is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be educated in it.” — Aristotle
113. “Those who know, do. Those that understand teach.” — Aristotle
114. “Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age.” — Aristotle
115. “The complete man must work, study and wrestle.” — Aristotle
116. “Wonder implies the desire to learn.” — Aristotle
117. “We can’t learn without pain.” — Aristotle
118. “All men by nature desire knowledge.” — Aristotle
119. “Wit is educated insolence.” — Aristotle
120. “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.” — Aristotle
121. “The greatest of all pleasures is the pleasure of learning.” — Aristotle
122. “Saying the words that come from knowledge is no sign of having it.” — Aristotle
123. “All teaching and all intellectual learning come about from already existing knowledge.” — Aristotle
124. “Our youth should also be educated with music and physical education.” — Aristotle
125. “It is the mark of an educated mind to expect that amount of exactness which the nature of the particular subject admits. It is equally unreasonable to accept merely probable conclusions from a mathematician and to demand strict demonstration from an orator.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes on Peace

126. “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” — Aristotle
127. “Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules.” — Aristotle
128. “The Law is Reason Free from Passion.” — Aristotle
129. “Through discipline comes freedom.” — Aristotle
130. “He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.” — Aristotle
131. “We make war that we may live in peace.” — Aristotle
132. “Be a free thinker and don’t accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.” — Aristotle
133. “The worst thing about slavery is that the slaves eventually get to like it. — Aristotle
134. “We give up leisure in order that we may have leisure, just as we go to war in order that we may have peace.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes on Democracy

135. Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyranny.” — Aristotle
136. “Man is by nature a political animal.” — Aristotle
137.  “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.” — Aristotle
138.  “It is better for a city to be governed by a good man than by good laws.” — Aristotle
139.  “Justice, therefore, demands that no one should do more ruling than being ruled, but that all should have their turn.” — Aristotle
140. “The weak are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay no heed to either.” — Aristotle
141. “There is nothing unequal as the equal treatment of unequal.” — Aristotle
142. “He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” — Aristotle
143. “Law is order, and good law is good order.” — Aristotle
144. “He who sees things grow from the beginning will have the best view of them.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes on Love

145. “He who has conferred a benefit on anyone from motives of love or honor will feel pain if he sees that the benefit is received without gratitude.” — Aristotle
146. “The hardest victory is the victory over self.” — Aristotle
147. “Love is the cause of unity in all things.” — Aristotle

Aristotle Quotes About Leadership

148. “He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.” — Aristotle
149. “He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.” — Aristotle
150. “To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.” — Aristotle

How did Aristotle die?

According to major ancient sources, Aristotle died from a stomach illness. In 323 B.C., after the death of Alexander, the anti-Macedonian sentiment forced Aristotle to leave Athens. Therefore, he had to settle in a small city, and in 322, he left the earth at the age of 70. Interestingly, unknown historians relate his death to the poisonous antidote which was prepared for his recovery.

What did Aristotle believe in?

There are several concepts and theories by Aristotle that depict his beliefs and thoughts on various domains. Initially, he strongly thought everything was made up of five elements: earth, fire, air, water, and Aether. He also dismissed the idea of Plato’s “Theory of the Forms” and suggested that the spirits of objects existed within the thing itself. He gave the concept of natural philosophy, which is now called “Science.”

What is Aristotle’s philosophy?

Aristotle proposed the concept of natural philosophy, which we now call science. He said it is the best and most precise way of gaining knowledge; undoubtedly, he was right. Through this concept, he rejected the idea of Plato’s “Theory of the Forms.” Also, he denied the idea that the soul exists independently and proposed that the consciousness of human beings remained within the physical form.

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