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Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation

Book by Aristotle · 12 quotes · Men, Nicomachean Ethics, Should

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Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation Quotes

“Property should be in a certain sense common, but, as a general rule, private; for, when every one has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, and they will make more progress, because every one will be attending to his own business.”

MenShouldCertainInterestCommonProgressPropertyComplainingCommunismOwn BusinessAttending
Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“There is an error common to both oligarchies and to democracies: in the latter the demagogues, when the multitude are above the law, are always cutting the city in two by quarrels with the rich, whereas they should always profess to be maintaining their cause; just as in oligarchies the oligarchs should profess to maintain the cause of the people, . .”

PeopleShouldTwoLawCausesCommonCitiesDemocracyRichCuttingErrorsLatterMultitudesMaintainingQuarrelsOligarchyAbove The Law
Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“Nature herself, as has been often said, requires that we should be able, not only to work well, but to use leisure well; for, as I must repeat once again, the first principle of all action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure is better than occupation and is its end.”

ShouldFirstsWellsHas BeensSaidEndsUseAbleActionEducationPrinciplesRepeatsOccupationLeisure
Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“Take the case of just actions; just punishments and chastisements do indeed spring from a good principle, but they are good only because we cannot do without them - it would be better that neither individuals nor states should need anything of the sort - but actions which aim at honor and advantage are absolutely the best. The conditional action is only the choice of a lesser evil; whereas these are the foundation and creation of good. A good man may make the best even of poverty and disease, and the other ills of life.”

MenNeedsShouldMayStatesWould BeActionChoicesEvilIndividualPrinciplesPovertyCasesCreationHonorDiseaseSpringAdvantageAimFoundationPunishmentGood ManGood LifeChastisementConditionalLesser Evil
Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“Now if there is any gift of the gods to men, it is reasonable that happiness should be god-given, and most surely god-given of all human things inasmuch as it is the best. But this question would perhaps be more appropriate to another inquiry; happiness seems, however, even if it is not god-sent but comes as a result of virtue and some process of learning and training, to be among the most god-like things; for that which is the prize and end of virtue seems to be the best thing in the world, and something god-like and blessed.”

IfsMenWorldShouldHumansEndsSeemsHappinessGivenProcessResultsVirtueTrainingBlessedBest ThingsReasonableBeing The BestAppropriatePrizeInquiry
Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“Laws, when good, should be supreme; and that the magistrate or magistrates should regulate those matters only on which the laws are unable to speak with precision owing to the difficulty of any general principle embracing all particulars.”

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Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“One would have thought that it was even more necessary to limit population than property; and that the limit should be fixed by calculating the chances of mortality in the children, and of sterility in married persons. The neglect of this subject, which in existing states is so common, is a never-failing cause of poverty among the citizens; and poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”

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Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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