The Greek philosopher Aristotle was known as the first teacher and this collection of Aristotle quotes is full of wisdom that you can learn from.
His writings covered many subjects such as physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy.
I’ve put together 69 of the best Aristotle quotes about life that you can take something to improve your levels of success.
69 Aristotle Quotes
1. “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” – Aristotle
2. “Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.” – Aristotle
3. “Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.” – Aristotle
4. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” – Aristotle
5. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle
6. “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” – Aristotle
7. “My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.” – Aristotle
8. “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” – Aristotle
9. “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.” – Aristotle
10. “Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.” – Aristotle
11. “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle
12. “Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.” – Aristotle
13. “We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” – Aristotle
14. “A friend to all is a friend to none.” – Aristotle
15. “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” – Aristotle
16. “Change in all things is sweet.” – Aristotle
17. “The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.” – Aristotle
18. “What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” – Aristotle
19. “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.” – Aristotle
20. “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
21. “He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.” – Aristotle
22. “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” – Aristotle
23. “I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.” – Aristotle
24. “Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions.” – Aristotle
25. “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.” – Aristotle
26. “Men are swayed more by fear than by reverence.” – Aristotle
27. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” – Aristotle
28. “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
29. “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
30. “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” – Aristotle
31. “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” – Aristotle
32. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” – Aristotle
33. “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle
34. “Well begun is half done.” – Aristotle
35. “Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.” – Aristotle
36. “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.” – Aristotle
37. “All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.” – Aristotle
38. “Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.” – Aristotle
39. “No one loves the man whom he fears.” – Aristotle
40. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
41. “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
42. “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” – Aristotle
43. “Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” – Aristotle
44. “One thing alone not even God can do, To make undone whatever hath been done.” – Aristotle
45. “The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” – Aristotle
46. “Nature does nothing uselessly.” – Aristotle
47. “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” – Aristotle
48. “The soul never thinks without a picture. Hope is the dream of a waking man.” – Aristotle
49. “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
50. “Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.” – Aristotle
51. “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life: the whole aim and end of human existence.” – Aristotle
52. “Happiness is an expression of the soul in considered actions.” – Aristotle
53. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle
54. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle
55. “The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.” – Aristotle
56. “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” – Aristotle
57. “He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.” – Aristotle
58. “No happy man can become miserable, for he will never do acts that are hateful and mean.” – Aristotle
59. “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
60. “It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.” – Aristotle
61. “The proof that you know something is that you are able to teach it.” – Aristotle
62. “Through discipline comes freedom.” – Aristotle
63. “To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence.” – Aristotle
64. “We cannot learn without pain.” – Aristotle
65. “Happiness is a state of activity.” – Aristotle
66. “All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.” – Aristotle
67. “Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.” – Aristotle
68. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” – Aristotle
69. “All men by nature desire to know.” – Aristotle
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