--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We ought, so far as it lies within our…" description: "\"We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to immortality, and do all that we can to live in conformity with the highest that is within us..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png" --- # We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to… ![“We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to immortality, and do all that we can to live in conformity with the highest that is within us; for even if it is small in quantity, in power and preciousness, it far excels all the rest.” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png) > “We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to immortality, and do all that we can to live in conformity with the highest that is within us; for even if it is small in quantity, in power and preciousness, it far excels all the rest.” [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. Strive for lasting greatness by aligning actions with our highest inner virtues, even in small measures. **In simple terms:** Pursue greatness through virtuous, even small, actions. Key Takeaway Cultivate virtue daily. Themes virtue immortality self‑improvement Mood thoughtful motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - education - community service Key Concepts ethical living personal growth spiritual development Questions to Reflect On - What virtues guide your life? - How can you practice them daily? A Different Perspective Greatness requires consistent effort beyond small acts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Aspire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspire/) [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Immortality Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality-live-3163991/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Power Preciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-preciousness-3163989/) [Preciousness Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preciousness-far-3163990/) [Quantity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantity/) ## Related quotes > [If you really want to find out something about immortality, you have to live in the mountain forests for 30 years. If you succeed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wang-yangming/if-you-really-want-to-find-out-something-about-immortality-you-have/) [Wang Yangming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wang-yangming/) > [Immortality is to live your life doing good things, and leaving your mark behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-lee/immortality-is-to-live-your-life-doing-good-things-and-leaving-your/) [Brandon Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-lee/) > [Do not believe that others will die, not you… I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/do-not-believe-that-others-will-die-not-you-i-have-wrestled-with/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) > [Something is infinite if, taking it quantity by quantity, we can always take something outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/something-is-infinite-if-taking-it-quantity-by-quantity-we-can-always/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The many are more incorruptible than the few; they are like the greater quantity of water which is less easily corrupted than a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-many-are-more-incorruptible-than-the-few-they-are-like-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Yet the true friend of the people should see that they be not too poor, for extreme povery lowers the character of the democracy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/yet-the-true-friend-of-the-people-should-see-that-they-be-not-too/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [For both excessive and insufficient exercise destroy one's strength, and both eating and drinking too much or too little destroy health, whereas the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/for-both-excessive-and-insufficient-exercise-destroy-one-s-strength/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The Good of man is the active exercise of his soul's faculties in conformity with excellence or virtue, or if there be several human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-good-of-man-is-the-active-exercise-of-his-soul-s-faculties-in/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It is the active exercise of our faculties in conformity with virtue that causes happiness, and the opposite activities its opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/it-is-the-active-exercise-of-our-faculties-in-conformity-with-virtue/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I didn't aspire to be a good sport; 'champion' was good enough for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-perry/i-didn-t-aspire-to-be-a-good-sport-champion-was-good-enough-for-me/) [Fred Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-perry/) > [At the end of the day, everyone knows what it is to be loved and to aspire to love someone, to want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/at-the-end-of-the-day-everyone-knows-what-it-is-to-be-loved-and-to/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [I love it when television is shot in a cinematic way and I think to aspire to that is no bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-rhys/i-love-it-when-television-is-shot-in-a-cinematic-way-and-i-think-to/) [Matthew Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-rhys/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [Vow to be valiant. Resolve to be radiant. Determine to be dynamic. Strive to be sincere. Aspire to be attuned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-arthur-ward/vow-to-be-valiant-resolve-to-be-radiant-determine-to-be-dynamic/) [William Arthur Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-arthur-ward/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## 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 Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to immortality, and do all that we can to live in conformity with the highest that is within us; for even if it is small in quantity, in power and preciousness, it far excels all the rest.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aristotle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-power-to-aspire-to-immortality/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aging" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-power-to-aspire-to-immortality/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec3/aristotle-78_aging_we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-po_1950678.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to immortality, and do all that we can to live in…” — 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": "We ought, so far as it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-power-to-aspire-to-immortality/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/we-ought-so-far-as-it-lies-within-our-power-to-aspire-to-immortality/#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 } } ] } ```