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Wisdom Quotes by Aristotle

41 Wisdom quotes by Aristotle

All Wisdom quotes Aristotle’s page

Aristotle distinguishes simple ignorance from the conceited double ignorance that pretends knowledge. He advises setting clear goals and gathering the means—wisdom, resources, method—to achieve them. He also says true happiness comes from insight and self‑growth, not fleeting pleasure.

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Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

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Doubt is the beginning of wisdom

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Everyone honors the wise.

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Think as wise men do, but speak as the common people do.

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The fool tells me his reason; the wise man persuades me with my own.

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So that the lover of myths, which are a compact of wonders, is by the same token a lover of wisdom.

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

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“Wise men speak when they have something to say, fools speak because they have to say something”

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Knowing what is right does not make a sagacious man.

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It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.

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Think as the wise men think, but talk like the simple people do.

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The wise man knows of all things, as far as possible, although he has no knowledge of each of them in detail

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There is simple ignorance, which is the source of lighter offenses, and double ignorance, which is accompanied by a conceit of wisdom.

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Let us be well persuaded that everyone of us possesses happiness in proportion to his virtue and wisdom, and according as he…

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The man who is truly good and wise will bear with dignity whatever fortune sends, and will always make the best of…

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“Wisdom or intelligence and prudence are intellectual, liberality and temperance are moral virtues.”

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Here and elsewhere we shall not obtain the best insight into things until we actually see them growing from the beginning.

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The truly good and wise man will bear all kinds of fortune in a seemly way, and will always act in the…

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True happiness flows from the possession of wisdom and virtue and not from the possession of external goods.

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The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he…

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First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money,…

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The life of theoretical philosophy is the best and happiest a man can lead. Few men are capable of it and then…

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Property should be in a general sense common, but as a general rule private... In well-ordered states, although every man has his…

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¢Some identify Happiness with virtue, some with practical wisdom, others with a kind of philosophical wisdom, others add or exclude pleasure and…

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The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he…

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Happiness itself is sufficient excuse. Beautiful things are right and true; so beautiful actions are those pleasing to the gods. Wise men…

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Now property is part of a household, and the acquisition of property part of household-management; for neither life itself nor the good…

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“The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he…

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The first essential responsibility of the state is control of the market-place: there must be some official charged with the duty of…

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

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Virtue makes us aim at the right end, and practical wisdom makes us take the right means.

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Excellence, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean, relative to us, this being determined by reason and in…

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“Fame means being respected by everybody, or having some quality that is desired by all men, or by most, or by the…

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Men pay most attention to what is their own: they care less for what is common; or, at any rate, they care…

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Wise people have an inward sense of what is beautiful, and the highest wisdom is to trust this intuition and be guided…

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True happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise all you're having is immediate gratification pleasure, which…

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It is clear, then, that wisdom is knowledge having to do with certain principles and causes. But now, since it is this…

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“The happy life is thought to be one of excellence; now an excellent life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement.…

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The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take…

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We must speak first about the division of land and about those who cultivate it: who should they be and what kind…

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More by Aristotle

The knowledge of the soul admittedly contributes greatly to the advance of truth in general, and, above all, to our understanding of Nature, for…

Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…

The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.

The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…

Although it may be difficult in theory to know what is just and equal, the practical difficulty of inducing those to forbear who can,…

The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…

All men by nature desire to know.

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

Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Give a man a poisoned fish, you feed him for the rest of…

The man who confers a favour would rather not be repaid in the same coin.

The mother of revolution and crime is poverty

Obstinate people can be divided into the opinionated, the ignorant, and the boorish.

Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.

To learn is a natural pleasure, not confined to philosophers, but common to all men.

Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.