--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it is not at all certain that this…" description: "\"But it is not at all certain that this superiority of the many over the sound few is possible in the case of every people and every large number. There..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png" --- # But it is not at all certain that this superiority of the… ![“But it is not at all certain that this superiority of the many over the sound few is possible in the case of every people and every large number. There are some whom it would be impossible: otherwise the theory would apply to wild animals- and yet some men are hardly any better than wild animals.” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png) > “But it is not at all certain that this superiority of the many over the sound few is possible in the case of every people and every large number. There are some whom it would be impossible: otherwise the theory would apply to wild animals- and yet some men are hardly any better than wild animals.” [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The claim that many are superior to a few cannot be universally applied; some groups may not fit this rule, especially when compared to animals. **In simple terms:** Not all groups fit the idea that many are better than a few. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about majority superiority. Themes philosophy politics human nature Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - social policy - education reform - ethical debates Key Concepts majority rule exception theory comparative analysis Questions to Reflect On - When does majority rule fail? - What factors make a minority superior? A Different Perspective Some contexts defy majority advantage, especially with extreme diversity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Large numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/large-numbers/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Wild animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wild-animal/) [Wild animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wild-animals/) ## Related quotes > [All are agreed that the various moral qualities are in a sense bestowed by nature: we are just, and capable of temperance, and brave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-are-agreed-that-the-various-moral-qualities-are-in-a-sense/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Barking dogs occasionally bite, but laughing men hardly ever shoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/barking-dogs-occasionally-bite-but-laughing-men-hardly-ever-shoot/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [As for men, they will hardly fail one anywhere. I had more visitors while I lived in the woods than at any other period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-men-they-will-hardly-fail-one-anywhere-i-had-more-visitors/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Strange, that certain superiority the goer-away feels for the stayer-at-home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lenora-mattingly-weber/strange-that-certain-superiority-the-goer-away-feels-for-the-stayer/) Lenora Mattingly Weber > [There is always a certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with a certain superiority in its fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-always-a-certain-meanness-in-the-argument-of-conservatism/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [People often imagine that being hard to please confers a certain superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/people-often-imagine-that-being-hard-to-please-confers-a-certain/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“How could they be so certain of the superiority of their truths when they knew so little, if anything at all, about other cultures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-shafak/how-could-they-be-so-certain-of-the-superiority-of-their-truths-when/) [Elif Shafak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-shafak/) > [We have all this Paleolithic art that suggests that our ancestors really venerated animals and that they depended on wild animals to survive -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/we-have-all-this-paleolithic-art-that-suggests-that-our-ancestors/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [From early childhood I had always dreamed of becoming an explorer. Somehow I had acquired the impression that an explorer was someone who lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-goddard/from-early-childhood-i-had-always-dreamed-of-becoming-an-explorer/) [John Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-goddard/) > [My relationship with God developed at an early age. I was raised on a remote little ranch, where I had for company and for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-medicine-eagle/my-relationship-with-god-developed-at-an-early-age-i-was-raised-on-a/) Brooke Medicine Eagle > [Few photographers have ever considered the photography of wild animals, as distinctly opposed to the genre of Wildlife Photography, as an art form. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-brandt/few-photographers-have-ever-considered-the-photography-of-wild/) [Nick Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-brandt/) > [So there you have it: Nature is a rotten mess. But that's only the beginning. If you take your eyes off it for one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-goldberg/so-there-you-have-it-nature-is-a-rotten-mess-but-that-s-only-the/) [Lee Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-goldberg/) > [Heartless though it may seem to some, among the least harmful things to eat are sustainably culled wild animals. In the absence of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristram-stuart/heartless-though-it-may-seem-to-some-among-the-least-harmful-things/) [Tristram Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristram-stuart/) > [I don’t have to be logical. I’m a leopard. We’re considered wild animals, you know. (Spoken by Megan.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-neftzger/i-don-t-have-to-be-logical-i-m-a-leopard-we-re-considered-wild/) [Amy Neftzger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-neftzger/) > [That proves something- that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/that-proves-something-that-a-gang-of-wild-animals-can-be-stopped/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) ## 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-knowledge-of-the-soul-admittedly-contributes-greatly-to-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Although it may be difficult in theory to know what is just and equal, the practical difficulty of inducing those to forbear who can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/although-it-may-be-difficult-in-theory-to-know-what-is-just-and-equal/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All men by nature desire to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-men-by-nature-desire-to-know/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-persons-ought-to-endeavor-to-follow-what-is-right-and-not-what-is/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Give a man a poisoned fish, you feed him for the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/give-a-man-a-fish-you-feed-him-for-a-day-give-a-man-a-poisoned-fish/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The man who confers a favour would rather not be repaid in the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-man-who-confers-a-favour-would-rather-not-be-repaid-in-the-same/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The mother of revolution and crime is poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-mother-of-revolution-and-crime-is-poverty/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Obstinate people can be divided into the opinionated, the ignorant, and the boorish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/obstinate-people-can-be-divided-into-the-opinionated-the-ignorant-and/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [To learn is a natural pleasure, not confined to philosophers, but common to all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-learn-is-a-natural-pleasure-not-confined-to-philosophers-but/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/every-virtue-is-a-mean-between-two-extremes-each-of-which-is-a-vice/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Explore all 1,545 Aristotle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But it is not at all certain that this superiority of the many over the sound few is possible in the case of every people and every large number. There are some whom it would be impossible: otherwise the theory would apply to wild animals- and yet some men are hardly any better than wild animals.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aristotle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-superiority-of-the-many-over/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-superiority-of-the-many-over/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/aristotle-78_animal_but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-s_161605.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it is not at all certain that this superiority of the many over the sound few is possible in the case of…” — Aristotle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Aristotle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But it is not at all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-superiority-of-the-many-over/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/but-it-is-not-at-all-certain-that-this-superiority-of-the-many-over/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```