--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one chooses what does not rest with…" description: "\"No one chooses what does not rest with himself, but only what he thinks can be attained by his own act.\" — Aristotle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png" --- # No one chooses what does not rest with himself, but only… ![“No one chooses what does not rest with himself, but only what he thinks can be attained by his own act.” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png) > “No one chooses what does not rest with himself, but only what he thinks can be attained by his own act.” [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. We control our thoughts and actions, not external circumstances, and can only achieve what we deem possible through our own effort. **In simple terms:** Our mind and deeds shape what we can achieve. Key Takeaway Focus on what you can control. Themes self‑mastery agency mindset Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal goal setting - career planning - overcoming obstacles - self‑improvement Key Concepts philosophy ethics volition Questions to Reflect On - What can you control right now? - How do your beliefs shape your actions? A Different Perspective External factors can still limit outcomes despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [The soul never thinks without a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-soul-never-thinks-without-a-picture/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [That in the soul which is called the mind is, before it thinks, not actually any real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/that-in-the-soul-which-is-called-the-mind-is-before-it-thinks-not/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Also our fellow competitors, who are indeed the people just mentioned - we do not compete with men who lived a hundred centuries ago,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/also-our-fellow-competitors-who-are-indeed-the-people-just-mentioned/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [To perceive is to suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-perceive-is-to-suffer/) [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/) > [“Who flies high, easily chooses his target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/who-flies-high-easily-chooses-his-target/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [You do not want to talk to me on the phone. How do I know? Because I don't want to talk to you on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/you-do-not-want-to-talk-to-me-on-the-phone-how-do-i-know-because-i/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-choose-him-over-and-over-again-and-he-chooses-me/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [It is the woman who chooses the man who will choose her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-woman-who-chooses-the-man-who-will-choose-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You got two chooses 1 take me as me 2 LEAVE THERE THE DOOR if you want me for me BYE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luna-rj/you-got-two-chooses-1-take-me-as-me-2-leave-there-the-door-if-you/) Luna\_Rj > [Hope for the best, get ready for the worst, and then take what God chooses to send.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/hope-for-the-best-get-ready-for-the-worst-and-then-take-what-god/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [What sort of philosophy one chooses depends on what sort of person one is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottlieb-fichte/what-sort-of-philosophy-one-chooses-depends-on-what-sort-of-person/) [Johann Gottlieb Fichte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottlieb-fichte/) > [I choose L'Arche; L'Arche chooses me. I would be dead if I weren't here. I need people to love me and care for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/i-choose-l-arche-l-arche-chooses-me-i-would-be-dead-if-i-weren-t-here/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [“ We all choose things, and we also all choose against things. I want to be the kind of person who chooses for more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/we-all-choose-things-and-we-also-all-choose-against-things-i-want-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-the-heart-loves-the-will-chooses-and-the-mind-justifies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Chooses quotes > [“Who flies high, easily chooses his target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/who-flies-high-easily-chooses-his-target/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [You do not want to talk to me on the phone. How do I know? Because I don't want to talk to you on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/you-do-not-want-to-talk-to-me-on-the-phone-how-do-i-know-because-i/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [What sort of philosophy one chooses depends on what sort of person one is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottlieb-fichte/what-sort-of-philosophy-one-chooses-depends-on-what-sort-of-person/) [Johann Gottlieb Fichte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottlieb-fichte/) > [What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-the-heart-loves-the-will-chooses-and-the-mind-justifies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“ We all choose things, and we also all choose against things. I want to be the kind of person who chooses for more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/we-all-choose-things-and-we-also-all-choose-against-things-i-want-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I choose L'Arche; L'Arche chooses me. I would be dead if I weren't here. I need people to love me and care for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/i-choose-l-arche-l-arche-chooses-me-i-would-be-dead-if-i-weren-t-here/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [Hope for the best, get ready for the worst, and then take what God chooses to send.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/hope-for-the-best-get-ready-for-the-worst-and-then-take-what-god/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [You got two chooses 1 take me as me 2 LEAVE THERE THE DOOR if you want me for me BYE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luna-rj/you-got-two-chooses-1-take-me-as-me-2-leave-there-the-door-if-you/) Luna\_Rj > [It is the woman who chooses the man who will choose her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-woman-who-chooses-the-man-who-will-choose-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-choose-him-over-and-over-again-and-he-chooses-me/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [America's addiction to violence is partly evident in the heroes it chooses to glorify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/america-s-addiction-to-violence-is-partly-evident-in-the-heroes-it/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Like many works of literature, Hollywood chooses for its villains people who strive for social dominance through the pursuit of wealth, prestige, and power.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-tabarrok/like-many-works-of-literature-hollywood-chooses-for-its-villains/) [Alex Tabarrok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-tabarrok/) > [Some like to believe it's the book that chooses the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/some-like-to-believe-it-s-the-book-that-chooses-the-person/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [You don't choose your public; your public chooses you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/you-don-t-choose-your-public-your-public-chooses-you/) [Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/) > [Wisdom chooses the unknown to be its reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akiane-kramarik/wisdom-chooses-the-unknown-to-be-its-reason/) [Akiane Kramarik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akiane-kramarik/) Browse all 157 Chooses quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No one chooses what does not rest with himself, but only what he thinks can be attained by his own act.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aristotle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-himself-but-only-what-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chooses" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-himself-but-only-what-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/aristotle-78_chooses_no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-h_2192035.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No one chooses what does not rest with himself, but only what he thinks can be attained by his own act.” — 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": "No one chooses what does not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-himself-but-only-what-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/no-one-chooses-what-does-not-rest-with-himself-but-only-what-he/#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 } } ] } ```