--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The greatest thing in style is to have a…" description: "\"The greatest thing in style is to have a command of metaphor.\" — Aristotle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png" --- # The greatest thing in style is to have a command of… ![“The greatest thing in style is to have a command of metaphor.” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png) > “The greatest thing in style is to have a command of metaphor.” [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. Style relies on vivid, figurative language to convey ideas effectively. **In simple terms:** Good style uses metaphor. Key Takeaway Master metaphor for stronger expression. Themes communication creativity expression Mood thoughtful inspired Type literary advice When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - teaching - marketing Key Concepts rhetoric figurative language Questions to Reflect On - How can you choose metaphors that resonate? - When does metaphor become cliché? A Different Perspective Metaphors can be misunderstood without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Command Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command-metaphor-2817863/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Style Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style-command-2817864/) [Thing Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-style-1142278/) ## Related quotes > [The greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-greatest-thing-by-far-is-to-have-a-command-of-metaphor-this-alone/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Style is the answer to everything. A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing. To do a dull thing with style is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/style-is-the-answer-to-everything-a-fresh-way-to-approach-a-dull-or-3/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Fashion is one thing, but style is another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bad-bunny/fashion-is-one-thing-but-style-is-another/) [Bad Bunny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bad-bunny/) > [To do a dull thing with style-now that's what I call art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/to-do-a-dull-thing-with-style-now-that-s-what-i-call-art/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [It's better to do a dull thing with style than a dangerous thing without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/it-s-better-to-do-a-dull-thing-with-style-than-a-dangerous-thing/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [But then of course a philosophy is not the same thing as a style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/but-then-of-course-a-philosophy-is-not-the-same-thing-as-a-style/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“If all you can do is a bad thing, well at least do it with your style!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/if-all-you-can-do-is-a-bad-thing-well-at-least-do-it-with-your-style/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [I didn't know a damn thing about style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bergin/i-didn-t-know-a-damn-thing-about-style/) [Michael Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bergin/) > [Change is a direct element of hip-hop. That's the whole thing with style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-p/change-is-a-direct-element-of-hip-hop-that-s-the-whole-thing-with/) [El-P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-p/) > [Men command fewer words than they have ideas to express, and language, as Jean Paul said, is a dictionary of faded metaphors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/men-command-fewer-words-than-they-have-ideas-to-express-and-language/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Those who have the command of the arms in a country are masters of the state, and have it in their power to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/those-who-have-the-command-of-the-arms-in-a-country-are-masters-of/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Despite which, Charlie seems doomed to stumble around in the dark, clutching pieces of a puzzle he still can't see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/despite-which-charlie-seems-doomed-to-stumble-around-in-the-dark/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“No algorithm exists for the metaphor, nor can a metaphor be produced by means of a computer’s precise instructions, no matter what the volume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/no-algorithm-exists-for-the-metaphor-nor-can-a-metaphor-be-produced/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket. Helvetica is here to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-frutiger/helvetica-is-the-jeans-and-univers-the-dinner-jacket-helvetica-is/) [Adrian Frutiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-frutiger/) > [I think zombies have always been an easy metaphor for hard times. Because they're this big, faceless, brainless group of evil things that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/i-think-zombies-have-always-been-an-easy-metaphor-for-hard-times/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) ## 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 Command quotes > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/our-beliefs-are-like-the-unquestioned-commands-telling-us-how-things/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Why has no religion this command before all others: Thou shalt work?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berthold-auerbach/why-has-no-religion-this-command-before-all-others-thou-shalt-work/) [Berthold Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berthold-auerbach/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [When you're in command, command.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-w-nimitz/when-you-re-in-command-command/) [Chester W. Nimitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-w-nimitz/) > [No one holds command over me. No man. No god. No Prince. What is a claim of age for ones who are immortal? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/no-one-holds-command-over-me-no-man-no-god-no-prince-what-is-a-claim/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/oh-while-i-live-to-be-the-ruler-of-life-not-a-slave-to-meet-life-as-a/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [There is a particular danger with a war that God commands. What if God should lose?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/there-is-a-particular-danger-with-a-war-that-god-commands-what-if-god/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Once you have hierarchy you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need law and the enforcement of the rules, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-young/once-you-have-hierarchy-you-need-rules-to-protect-and-administer-it/) [William P. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [The architect is very interesting because the architect is the commander, meaning the one who commands all the workers. The architect is also the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-architect-is-very-interesting-because-the-architect-is-the/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [You've got Washington picking winners and losers. And so, all of a sudden, decisions are being made on what helps politicians, not what helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-hensarling/you-ve-got-washington-picking-winners-and-losers-and-so-all-of-a/) [Jeb Hensarling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-hensarling/) > [While it is becoming increasingly obvious that the fundamental architecture of a system has a profound Influence on the quality of its human factors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-m-branscomb/while-it-is-becoming-increasingly-obvious-that-the-fundamental/) [Lewis M. Branscomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-m-branscomb/) [Browse all 1,694 Command quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The greatest thing in style is to have a command of metaphor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aristotle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a-command-of-metaphor/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Command" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a-command-of-metaphor/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/aristotle-78_command_the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a_293395.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The greatest thing in style is to have a command of metaphor.” — 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": "The greatest thing in style is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a-command-of-metaphor/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-greatest-thing-in-style-is-to-have-a-command-of-metaphor/#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 } } ] } ```