1.
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
2.
Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.
Aristotle
Exercise skepticism and question the veracity of what you encounter before embracing it as fact.
3.
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
Aristotle
Unearthing one's identity is the foundation of all sagacity.
4.
Criticism is something we can avoid easily
by saying nothing, doing nothing,
and being nothing.
Aristotle
Avoidance of censure can be achieved simply by maintaining silence, inaction, and invisibility.
5.
The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
Aristotle
6.
Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances.
Aristotle
Contentment is an attribute of the spirit...not reliant on one's financial position.
7.
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
Aristotle
You can never accomplish anything in life without boldness. It is the most essential characteristic of the intellect following integrity.
8.
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
Aristotle
Enlightening the intellect without cultivating the soul is no enlightenment at all.
9.
Teenagers these days are out of control. They eat like pigs, they are disrespectful of adults, they interrupt and contradict their parents, and they terrorize their teachers.
Aristotle
Adolescents today are unruly. They gorge themselves, show little regard for elders, challenge and oppose their parents' words, and harass their instructors.
10.
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
11.
Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.
Aristotle
Regimes deteriorate into autocracies and autocracies degenerate into tyrannies.
12.
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
Aristotle
Destitution is the progenitor of unrest and transgression.
13.
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.
Aristotle
One who has never been subject to authority cannot be a competent leader.
14.
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.
Aristotle
He who subdues his own passions is more courageous than he who vanquishes his adversaries; for the most difficult triumph is over one's self.
15.
When there is no middle class, and the poor greatly exceed in number, troubles arise, and the state soon comes to an end.
Aristotle
When the middle class is absent, and those of low wealth vastly outnumber them, difficulties emerge, and the government quickly dissolves.
16.
The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
Aristotle
'The more one learns, the more one realizes how much there is still to learn.'
17.
No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.
Aristotle
No eminent intellect has ever existed without a hint of eccentricity.
18.
The tyrant, who in order to hold his power, suppresses every superiority, does away with good men, forbids education and light, controls every movement of the citizens and, keeping them under a perpetual servitude, wants them to grow accustomed to baseness and cowardice, has his spies everywhere to listen to what is said in the meetings, and spreads dissension and calumny among the citizens and impoverishes them, is obliged to make war in order to keep his subjects occupied and impose on them permanent need of a chief.
Aristotle
19.
The society that loses its grip on the past is in danger, for it produces men who know nothing but the present, and who are not aware that life had been, and could be, different from what it is.
Aristotle
'A culture that neglects its roots is at risk, for it breeds people who are only cognizant of the present, and unaware that life has been, and can be, dissimilar to what it is now.'
20.
Virtue means doing the right thing, in relation to the right person, at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for the right purpose. Thus, to give money away is quite a simple task, but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right manner, and at the right time.
Aristotle
21.
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
Aristotle
The purpose of art is to portray not the superficial features of things, but their intrinsic meaning.
22.
We are what we repeatedly do... excellence, therefore, isn't just an act, but a habit and life isn't just a series of events, but an ongoing process of self-definition.
Aristotle
'Achievement is not a single act, but a pattern of behaviour and existence is not solely comprised of occurrences, but an ongoing journey of self-discovery.'
23.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle
It is a sign of an enlightened intellect to be able to contemplate an idea without embracing it.
24.
He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.
Aristotle
One who has vanquished their anxieties will genuinely be liberated.
25.
Think as the wise men think, but talk like the simple people do.
Aristotle
Contemplate as the sagacious ponder, yet converse as the unsophisticated do.
26.
The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.
Aristotle
The most egregious form of disparity is to attempt to equate disparate entities.
27.
The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.
Aristotle
The principled individual must prioritize veracity over public opinion.
28.
The man who is truly good and wise will bear with dignity whatever fortune sends, and will always make the best of his circumstances.
Aristotle
The man who is truly virtuous and sagacious will accept his destiny with poise, and will always make the most advantageous use of his situation.
29.
The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.
Aristotle
The enlightened are as distinct from the ignorant as the animate from the inert.
30.
It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil.
Aristotle
It is our selection of righteousness or wickedness that shapes our personality, not our views on right and wrong.
31.
Find the good. Seek the Unity. Ignore the divisions among us.
Aristotle
Discover the positive. Pursue Cohesion. Disregard the distinctions between us.
32.
The intelligence consists not only in the knowledge but also in the skill to apply the knowledge into practice.
Aristotle
The acumen lies not only in the familiarity but also in the talent to utilize the familiarity into operation.
33.
Friends hold a mirror up to each other; through that mirror they can see each other in ways that would not otherwise be accessible to them, and it is this mirroring that helps them improve themselves as persons.
Aristotle
34.
One may go wrong in many different ways, but right only in one, which is why it is easy to fail and difficult to succeed.
Aristotle
35.
The greatest of all pleasures is the pleasure of learning.
Aristotle
36.
Character is determined by choice, not opinion.
Aristotle
37.
The proof that you know something is that you are able to teach it
Aristotle
38.
At the intersection where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein you will discover your purpose
Aristotle
39.
We are what we do.
Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle
40.
Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.
Aristotle
41.
Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it; men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled ; and by doing brave acts, we become brave.
Aristotle
42.
My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.
Aristotle
43.
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.
Aristotle
44.
Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.
Aristotle
45.
What you have to learn to do, you learn by doing.
Aristotle
46.
The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.
Aristotle
47.
Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
Aristotle
48.
They - Young People have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things - and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning - all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything - they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.
Aristotle
49.
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
50.
Wit is educated insolence.
Aristotle
