“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.” – Aristotle
One of the most well-known and highly regarded Greek philosophers in history, Aristotle taught us many important lessons in subjects such as science, logic, ethics, poetry, theater, metaphysics, and just life in general.
Did you know the name Aristotle literally means “the best purpose” when translated? He certainly lived out his purpose to share knowledge during his lifetime, and we’ve gathered some of this most famous and profound quotes to share with you all so that you can keep these teachings with you.
Here are 11 life lessons to learn from Aristotle:
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1. Know who your friends are, and keep them close.
“Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.”
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.”
“The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.”
“A friend is a second self, so that our consciousness of a friend’s existence…makes us more fully conscious of our own existence.”
“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
“Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.”
“The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.”
2. Honesty is the best policy; hold it in high regard.
“The least deviation from truth will be multiplied later.”
“All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.”
“Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.”
“The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.”
“Liars when they speak the truth are not believed.”
3. Never stop learning in all areas of life.
“Education is the best provision for the journey to old age.”
“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead.”
“All men by nature desire knowledge.”
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
“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.”
“All men by nature desire to know.”
4. The art of written word is beautiful. -Aristotle
“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”
“Poetry demands a man with a special gift for it, or else one with a touch of madness in him.”
“To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.”
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
5. One of the biggest triumphs in life is conquering your Ego.
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self.”
“It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.”
6. To accomplish anything in life, you must have willpower.
“Through discipline comes freedom.”
“It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.”
“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.”
“Excellence is an art won by training and habitation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.”
“For what is the best choice, for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve.”
”Always prefer the probable impossible to the improbable possible.”
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
7. Comedy and humor must exist in life in order to keep us sane.
“The secret to humor is surprise.”
“The gods too are fond of a joke.”
“Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life.”
8. Oftentimes, the craziest people have the best ideas.
“No great genius is without an admixture of madness.”
“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”
9. Fear doesn’t do anything but hold us back.
“Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.”
“Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.”
“I have gained this by philosophy; that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.”
“Hope is a waking dream.”
10. You get to control the quality of your life and the qualities you choose to possess.
“Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form, but with regard to their mode of life.”
“Happiness belongs to the self sufficient.”
“Happiness is the settling of the soul into its most appropriate spot.”
“We acquire a particular quality by acting in a particular way.”
“The actuality of thought is life.”
“We must be neither cowardly nor rash but courageous.”
“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.”
11. Never underestimate the power of the darkness.
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
“We cannot learn without pain.”
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