Quotes from Aristotle

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.

Excellence, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean, relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.

We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the first move-and he, in turn, waits for you.

Happiness is the utilization of one's talents along lines of excellence.

It is possible to fail in many ways . . . while to succeed is possible only in one way (for which reason also one is easy and the other difficult - to miss the mark easy, to hit it difficult).

All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.

The weaker are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay no heed to either.

Choice not chance determines your destiny [my family motto...credited to Aristotle]

Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.

Modesty is hardly to be described as a virtue. It is a feeling rather than a disposition. It is a kind of fear of falling into disrepute.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Life is full of chances and changes, and the most prosperous of men may...meet with great misfortunes.

It concerns us to know the purposes we seek in life, for then, like archers aiming at a definite mark, we shall be more likely to attain what we want.

Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory, or happiness.

It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.

Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.

Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government.

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life - knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.

The energy of the mind is the essence of life.

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

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.

All food must be capable of being digested, and that what produces digestion is warmth; that is why everything that has soul in it possesses warmth.