--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If they [Plato and Aristotle] wrote about…" description: "\"“If they [Plato and Aristotle] wrote about politics it was as if to lay down rules for a madhouse. And if they pretended to treat it as something reall..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb5/blaise-pascal-167_belief_if-they-plato-and-aristotle-wrote-about_343108.jpg" --- # If they \[Plato and Aristotle\] wrote about politics it was… ![“If they [Plato and Aristotle] wrote about politics it was as if to lay down rules for a madhouse. And if they pretended to treat it as something really important it was because they knew that the madmen they were talking to believed themselves to be kings and emperors. They humoured these beliefs…” quote by Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb5/blaise-pascal-167_belief_if-they-plato-and-aristotle-wrote-about_343108.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb5/blaise-pascal-167_belief_if-they-plato-and-aristotle-wrote-about_343108.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb5/blaise-pascal-167_belief_if-they-plato-and-aristotle-wrote-about_343108.jpg) > ““If they \[Plato and Aristotle\] wrote about politics it was as if to lay down rules for a madhouse. And if they pretended to treat it as something really important it was because they knew that the madmen they were talking to believed themselves to be kings and emperors. They humoured these beliefs in order to calm down their madness with as little harm as possible.”” [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pascal critiques political philosophers for treating chaotic governance as if it were orderly, noting they placate delusional rulers to minimize damage. **In simple terms:** He says they soothe crazy leaders to avoid harm. Key Takeaway Recognize and gently correct chaotic authority. Themes politics madness leadership humility Mood cautious reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - government reform - organizational management - conflict resolution - public policy Key Concepts philosophy political theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance soothing with challenging authority? - When is it better to confront rather than placate? A Different Perspective Their approach may enable harmful ideas to persist under the guise of calm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Emperor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emperor/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Madmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madmen/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Plato and aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plato-and-aristotle/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [The only good thing that we owe to Plato and Aristotle is that they brought forward many arguments which we can use against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girolamo-savonarola/the-only-good-thing-that-we-owe-to-plato-and-aristotle-is-that-they/) [Girolamo Savonarola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girolamo-savonarola/) > [The authority of Plato and Aristotle, of Zeno and Epicurus, still reigned in the schools; and their systems, transmitted with blind deference from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-authority-of-plato-and-aristotle-of-zeno-and-epicurus-still/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [The atomists , unlike Socrates , Plato , and Aristotle , sought to explain the world without introducing the notion of purpose or final cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-atomists-unlike-socrates-plato-and-aristotle-sought-to-explain/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Aristotle wrote the 'Poetics' 2,400 years ago. It's really an instruction manual for aspiring filmmakers. It's as valid today as it was then.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-jarecki/aristotle-wrote-the-poetics-2-400-years-ago-it-s-really-an/) [Nicholas Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-jarecki/) > [“Aristotle wrote, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Being able to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/aristotle-wrote-it-is-the-mark-of-an-educated-mind-to-be-able-to/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) > [“Aristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-hardy/aristotle-wrote-we-are-what-we-repeatedly-do/) [Darren Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-hardy/) > [“Aristotle wrote in Nicomachean Ethics, “hold that it is by nature that people become good, others that it is by habit, and others that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/aristotle-wrote-in-nicomachean-ethics-hold-that-it-is-by-nature-that/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [“What Homer could never have foreseen is the double idiocy into which we now educate our children. 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I believe it came to a no less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/our-tradition-of-political-thought-had-its-definite-beginning-in-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“The greatest thinkers of Greece — Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and later Plutarch and Plotinus — derived their ideas from ancient tradition, and further on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/the-greatest-thinkers-of-greece-pythagoras-plato-aristotle-and-later/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and many others speak of dying for the law, for one’s country, one’s friends, one’s family, even for the emperor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/plato-aristotle-the-stoics-and-many-others-speak-of-dying-for-the-law/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“It is not brains or intelligence that is needed to cope with the problems with Plato and Aristotle and all of their successors to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/it-is-not-brains-or-intelligence-that-is-needed-to-cope-with-the/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Was it Aristotle who said the human soul is composed of reason, will, and desire?” “No, that was Plato. Aristotle and Plato were as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/was-it-aristotle-who-said-the-human-soul-is-composed-of-reason-will/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More by Blaise Pascal > [“Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/do-they-think-that-they-have-given-us-great-pleasure-by-telling-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The method of not erring is sought by all the world. The logicians profess to guide it, the geometricians alone attain it, and apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-method-of-not-erring-is-sought-by-all-the-world-the-logicians/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [When we read too fast or too slowly, we understand nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-we-read-too-fast-or-too-slowly-we-understand-nothing/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ by commanding his followers to lay down their lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/mahomet-established-a-religion-by-putting-his-enemies-to-death-jesus/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Reflect on death as in Jesus Christ, not as without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is dreadful, it is alarming, it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/reflect-on-death-as-in-jesus-christ-not-as-without-jesus-christ/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true. Others say, "Go out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-stoics-say-retire-within-yourselves-it-is-there-you-will-find/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Happiness can be found neither in ourselves nor in external things, but in God and in ourselves as united to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/happiness-can-be-found-neither-in-ourselves-nor-in-external-things/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Amusement that is excessive and followed only for its own sake, allures and deceives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/amusement-that-is-excessive-and-followed-only-for-its-own-sake/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Rivers are highways that move on and bear us whither we wish to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/rivers-are-highways-that-move-on-and-bear-us-whither-we-wish-to-go/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. We cannot but desire truth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-desire-truth-and-find-within-ourselves-only-uncertainty-we-seek/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Vanity is illustrated in the cause and effect of love, as in the case of Cleopatra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/vanity-is-illustrated-in-the-cause-and-effect-of-love-as-in-the-case/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Imagination is the deceptive part in man, the mistress of error and falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/imagination-is-the-deceptive-part-in-man-the-mistress-of-error-and/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-majority-is-the-best-way-because-it-is-visible-and-has-strength/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Explore all 988 Blaise Pascal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. 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