Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, whereafter Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian. At eighteen, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven. His writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor; it is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity of the dissimilar.
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.
Find the good. Seek the Unity. Ignore the divisions among us.
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.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
It is also in the interests of the tyrant to make his subjects poor... the people are so occupied with their daily tasks that they have no time for plotting.
Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.
Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.
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.
Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbour to have them through envy.
No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.
Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances.
Through discipline comes freedom.
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.