150 Best Quotes by Aristotle: Timeless Wisdom from the Father of Western Philosophy

Patrick WrightJuly 5, 2025

150 Best Quotes by Aristotle: Timeless Wisdom from the Father of Western Philosophy

Introduction

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) stands as one of the most influential thinkers in human history. A student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great, this Greek philosopher laid the foundations for Western thought across virtually every field of knowledge—from logic and ethics to politics and metaphysics. His systematic approach to understanding the world through observation and reason revolutionized human thinking and continues to shape our intellectual landscape over two millennia later.

Born in Stagira, Macedonia, Aristotle spent twenty years at Plato's Academy before founding his own school, the Lyceum. Unlike his teacher Plato, who focused on ideal forms, Aristotle grounded his philosophy in the observable world, believing that wisdom comes from understanding the nature of things as they are. His works cover an astonishing range of subjects: ethics, politics, metaphysics, logic, rhetoric, poetry, biology, and psychology.

What makes Aristotle's wisdom particularly enduring is its practical nature. He wasn't content with abstract theorizing; he sought to understand how humans could live well and flourish. His concept of eudaimonia—often translated as happiness but better understood as human flourishing—remains central to discussions of ethics and the good life today.

In this collection of 150 of Aristotle's most profound quotes, we explore the breadth and depth of his wisdom. These words, preserved across centuries, continue to offer guidance on living virtuously, thinking clearly, and understanding our place in the world. From insights on friendship and happiness to observations on politics and human nature, Aristotle's teachings remain remarkably relevant to our modern lives.

Table of Contents

Section 1: Happiness and the Good Life

Aristotle's conception of happiness (eudaimonia) wasn't about fleeting pleasures but about living a complete and flourishing life. He believed happiness was the ultimate goal of human existence, achieved through virtuous activity and the cultivation of excellence.

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." - Aristotle

"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

"Happiness is a state of activity." - Aristotle

"Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances." - Aristotle

"Happiness is activity of soul." - Aristotle

"Happiness seems to depend on leisure, because we work to have leisure, and wage war to live in peace." - Aristotle

"Life in accordance with intellect is best and pleasantest, since this, more than anything else, constitutes humanity." - Aristotle

"Hope is a waking dream." - Aristotle

"The happy life is regarded as a life in conformity with virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement." - Aristotle

"Happiness, then, is something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action." - Aristotle

"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." - Aristotle

"Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government." - Aristotle

"Happiness is an expression of the soul in considered actions." - Aristotle

"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

"The happy man lives well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life and good action." - Aristotle

"Happiness is the utilization of one's talents along lines of excellence." - Aristotle

"Happiness is self-contentedness." - Aristotle

Section 2: Virtue and Character

For Aristotle, virtue wasn't innate but developed through practice and habit. He distinguished between intellectual virtues (acquired through teaching) and moral virtues (developed through practice), emphasizing that excellence comes from repeatedly choosing the right actions.

"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self." - Aristotle

"He who has overcome his fears will truly be free." - Aristotle

"Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way... you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions." - Aristotle

"Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit." - Aristotle

"It is well said, then, that it is by doing just acts that the just man is produced, and by doing temperate acts the temperate man; without doing these no one would have even a prospect of becoming good." - Aristotle

"Any one can get angry—that is easy—or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for every one, nor is it easy." - Aristotle

"Nor is he liberal who gives with pain; for he would prefer the wealth to the noble act, and this is not characteristic of a liberal man. But no more will the liberal man take from wrong sources; for such taking is not characteristic of the man who sets no store by wealth." - Aristotle

"Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution." - Aristotle

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

"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

"The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom." - Aristotle

"Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion." - Aristotle

"Good habits formed at youth make all the difference." - Aristotle

"Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them." - Aristotle

"The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances." - Aristotle

"Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others." - Aristotle

"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." - Aristotle

"Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society." - Aristotle

"A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility." - Aristotle

Section 3: Friendship and Love

Aristotle considered friendship one of the most important elements of a good life. He identified three types of friendship: those based on utility, pleasure, and virtue, with the last being the highest and most enduring form.

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." - Aristotle

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit." - Aristotle

"A friend to all is a friend to none." - Aristotle

"The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend." - Aristotle

"Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods." - Aristotle

"Friendship is essentially a partnership." - Aristotle

"In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge." - Aristotle

"The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake." - Aristotle

"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies." - Aristotle

"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me." - Aristotle

"Distance does not break off the friendship absolutely, but only the activity of it." - Aristotle

"The friendship of base men is evil, for because of their instability they unite in bad pursuits." - Aristotle

"Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in virtue." - Aristotle

"Lovers are silly, but love is serious." - Aristotle

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." - Aristotle

"To love someone is to identify with them." - Aristotle

"Friendship is a slow ripening fruit." - Aristotle

"Between friends there is no need for justice." - Aristotle

"The friend is a second self." - Aristotle

Section 4: Wisdom and Knowledge

As a philosopher and scientist, Aristotle valued knowledge and wisdom above all. He believed that the pursuit of knowledge was fundamental to human nature and that wisdom came from understanding causes and principles.

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." - Aristotle

"The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead." - Aristotle

"To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man." - Aristotle

"It is impossible, or not easy, to alter by argument what has long been absorbed by habit." - Aristotle

"Wit is educated insolence." - Aristotle

"Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age." - Aristotle

"What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing." - Aristotle

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." - Aristotle

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." - Aristotle

"The more you know, the more you know you don't know." - Aristotle

"All men by nature desire to know." - Aristotle

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." - Aristotle

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

"Teaching is the highest form of understanding." - Aristotle

"The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching." - Aristotle

"Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach." - Aristotle

"The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain." - Aristotle

"There is no great genius without some touch of madness." - Aristotle

"The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger." - Aristotle

Section 5: Politics and Society

Aristotle's political philosophy emphasized that humans are naturally social beings and that the state exists to promote human flourishing. His analysis of different forms of government and their corruptions remains influential today.

"It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace." - Aristotle

"Yes the truth is that men's ambition and their desire to make money are among the most frequent causes of deliberate acts of injustice." - Aristotle

"Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely." - Aristotle

"That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it, everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfil." - Aristotle

"He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader." - Aristotle

"Man is by nature a political animal." - Aristotle

"The law is reason, free from passion." - Aristotle

"A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state." - Aristotle

"The basis of a democratic state is liberty." - Aristotle

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers." - Aristotle

"The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control." - Aristotle

"Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms." - Aristotle

"All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established." - Aristotle

"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime." - Aristotle

"The law is order, and good law is good order." - Aristotle

"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion." - Aristotle

"Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself." - Aristotle

"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." - Aristotle

"The state comes into existence for the sake of life and continues to exist for the sake of good life." - Aristotle

Section 6: Art and Creativity

Aristotle's Poetics laid the foundation for literary criticism and dramatic theory. He analyzed the nature of tragedy, comedy, and epic poetry, exploring how art imitates life and affects human emotions.

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." - Aristotle

"Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life." - Aristotle

"The secret to humor is surprise." - Aristotle

"With respect to the requirement of art, the probable impossible is always preferable to the improbable possible." - Aristotle

"Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular." - Aristotle

"Art not only imitates nature, but also completes its deficiencies." - Aristotle

"Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully." - Aristotle

"Poetry demands a man with a special gift for it, or else one with a touch of madness in him." - Aristotle

"A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself." - Aristotle

"Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic poetry, and the music of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all in their general conception modes of imitation." - Aristotle

"The plot is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy." - Aristotle

"Character gives us qualities, but it is in our actions that we are happy or the reverse." - Aristotle

"Poetry is more philosophical and more significant than history." - Aristotle

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire." - Aristotle

"Music has a power of forming the character, and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young." - Aristotle

"To give a satisfactory decision as to the truth it is necessary to be rather an arbitrator than a party to the dispute." - Aristotle

"Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men." - Aristotle

"Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible." - Aristotle

Section 7: Human Nature and Psychology

Aristotle's observations on human nature and psychology were remarkably astute. He explored the nature of the soul, emotions, and human behavior with a systematic approach that laid groundwork for later psychological thought.

"To perceive is to suffer." - Aristotle

"Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope." - Aristotle

"Whosoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god." - Aristotle

"Young people are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. … They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it." - Aristotle

"Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules." - Aristotle

"All human beings, by nature, desire to know." - Aristotle

"Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil." - Aristotle

"Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base." - Aristotle

"The soul never thinks without a picture." - Aristotle

"Memory is the scribe of the soul." - Aristotle

"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." - Aristotle

"Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form, but with regard to their mode of life." - Aristotle

"Nature does nothing in vain." - Aristotle

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." - Aristotle

"Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age." - Aristotle

"Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit." - Aristotle

"We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one." - Aristotle

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." - Aristotle

"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness." - Aristotle

Section 8: Action and Excellence

Aristotle believed that excellence (arete) was achieved through action and practice. His emphasis on the practical application of knowledge and the development of good habits remains influential in fields from ethics to education.

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." - Aristotle

"Now to exert oneself and work for the sake of amusement seems silly and utterly childish. But to amuse oneself in order that one may exert oneself, as Anacharsis puts it, seems right; for amusement is a sort of relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously. Relaxation, then, is not an end; for it is taken for the sake of activity." - Aristotle

"To amuse oneself in order that one may exert oneself, as Anacharsis puts it, seems right; for amusement is a sort of relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously." - Aristotle

"…existence is to all men a thing to be chosen and loved, and that we exist by virtue of activity (i.e. by living and acting), and that the handiwork is in a sense, the producer in activity; he loves his handiwork, therefore, because he loves existence." - Aristotle

"One can with but moderate possessions do what one ought." - Aristotle

"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle

"Every skill and every inquiry, and similarly every action and rational choice, is thought to aim at some good; and so the good had been aptly described as that at which everything aims." - Aristotle

"Quality is not an act, it is a habit." - Aristotle

"Well begun is half done." - Aristotle

"The beginning seems to be more than half of the whole." - Aristotle

"It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions." - Aristotle

"We must be neither cowardly nor rash but courageous." - Aristotle

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation." - Aristotle

"Through discipline comes freedom." - Aristotle

"We cannot learn without pain." - Aristotle

"The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons." - Aristotle

"All virtue is summed up in dealing justly." - Aristotle

"It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen." - Aristotle

"The end of labor is to gain leisure." - Aristotle

"Change in all things is sweet." - Aristotle

Conclusion

Aristotle's enduring legacy lies not just in the breadth of his knowledge but in the practical wisdom he offered for living a good life. His quotes reveal a thinker deeply concerned with human flourishing, virtue, and the pursuit of excellence. Unlike many philosophers who dealt primarily in abstractions, Aristotle grounded his philosophy in observable reality and practical application.

What makes these 150 quotes so powerful is their continued relevance. Whether discussing friendship, happiness, politics, or personal growth, Aristotle's insights speak to fundamental aspects of the human condition that remain unchanged despite the passage of millennia. His emphasis on virtue as habit, happiness as activity, and excellence as a choice continues to inspire those seeking wisdom and guidance.

Perhaps most importantly, Aristotle reminds us that philosophy is not merely an intellectual exercise but a practical guide to living well. His teachings encourage us to develop our potential, cultivate meaningful relationships, contribute to our communities, and pursue knowledge with both humility and determination. In a world that often seems to value quick fixes and instant gratification, Aristotle's emphasis on patient cultivation of virtue and the long-term view of human flourishing offers a refreshing and necessary perspective.

As we reflect on these quotes, we're reminded that true wisdom is timeless. Aristotle's words continue to challenge, inspire, and guide us toward lives of greater purpose, virtue, and fulfillment. His legacy endures not in dusty academic tomes but in the daily choices we make to live more thoughtfully, act more virtuously, and pursue the kind of happiness that comes from a life well-lived.

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