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
Man by Nature desires to know.
Nothing in life is more necessary than friendship.
The true friend of the people should see that they be not too poor, for extreme poverty lowers the character of the democracy.
All people by nature desire to know. An example of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves.
The wise man knows of all things, as far as possible, although he has no knowledge of each of them in detail
It is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits
In inventing a model we may assume what we wish, but should avoid impossibilities.
What is the highest of all goods achievable by action? ...both the general run of man and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness ...but with regard to what happiness is they differ.
The good of man is the active exercise of his soul's faculties. This exercise must occupy a complete lifetime. One swallow does make a spring, nor does one fine day. Excellence is a habit, not an event.
People never know each other until they have eaten a certain amount of salt together.
To Unlearn is as hard as to Learn
There is simple ignorance, which is the source of lighter offenses, and double ignorance, which is accompanied by a conceit of wisdom.
There is only one good, that is knowledge; there is only one evil, that is ignorance.
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.