Aristotle Quotes

We should make virtue our master, not our servant.

Without virtue, happiness cannot be.

All you have really to do is to keep your back as straight as you can; and not think about what is upon it. The real and essential meaning of "virtue" is that straightness of back.

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.

Even in decline, a virtuous man increases the beauty of his behavior. A burning stick, though turned to the ground, has its flame drawn upwards.

Only the noble of heart are called to difficulty.

To do evil for good is human corruption; to do good for good is civil retribution; but to do good for evil is Christian perfection. Though this be not the grace of nature, it is the nature of grace.

Character is a quality that embodies many important traits, such as integrity, courage, perseverance, confidence and wisdom. Unlike your fingerprints that you are born with and can't change, character is something that you create within yourself and must take responsibility for changing

Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others. It is not obedience to authority, and while it is often consistent with and reinforced by religious belief, it is not piety.

The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect others to be vicious.

One cannot always be a hero, but one can always be a man.

One ought to be just before one is generous

Content not thyself that thou art virtuous in the general; for one link being wanting, the chain is defective.

What is the real relation between happiness and goodness? It is only within a few generations that men have found courage to say that there is none.

Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.

Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.

Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and thorny path.

It still remains true that no justification of virtue will enable a man to be virtuous.

Does what's happened keep you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humility, straightforward ness, and all other qualities that allow a person's nature to fulfill itself? So remember this principle when something threatens to cause you pain: the thing itself was no misfortune at all; to endure it and prevail is great good fortune.

After all, why be good? How many will actually believe it of us?

Virtue is its own punishment.

Virtue is the roughest way, but proves at night a bed of down.

Whatever any one does or says, I must be good; just as if the emerald were always saying this: "Whatever any one does or says, I must still be emerald, and keep my color.

I've gotten a lot of comfort from the philosophy of the Roman Stoics. For me, one of the most powerful ideas of Stoicism is that you can't pick or choose in the world what you want to happen and what you don't want to happen, and that actually if you did get to choose, the version you would come up with would be unsociable, lame, and basically less beautiful than the truth.