Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Aristotle

Quote by Aristotle

“The attainment of truth is then the function of both the intellectual parts of the soul. Therefore their respective virtues are those dispositions which will best qualify them to attain truth.”

Quote by Aristotle

Book:The Nicomachean ethics
Create image

Work

The Nicomachean ethics

Written by Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics is a comprehensive treatise on ethics that delves into the nature of virtue, the role of habituation, and the importance of practical wisdom. It is considered one of the most significant texts in the history of philosophy, offering insights into moral character and the pursuit of eudaimonia, or human flourishing. more

Author

Aristotle
Aristotle

Aristotle, a renowned Greek philosopher, is one of the founders of Western philosophy. His thoughts covered a wide range of fields, including ethics, logic, politics, and had a profound impact on the world. more

You May Also Like

“In bad or corrupted natures the body will often appear to rule over the soul, because they are in an evil and unnatural condition. At all events we may firstly observe in living creatures both a despotical and a constitutional rule; for the soul rules the body with a despotical rule, whereas the intellect rules the appetites with a constitutional and royal rule. And it is clear that the rule of the soul over the body, and of the mind and the rational element over the passionate, is natural and expedient; whereas the equality of the two or the rule of the inferior is always hurtful.”

MindMayTwoSoulBodyEvilNaturalClearConditionsEventsCreaturesElementsPassionateIntellectRationalAppetiteInferiorsRoyalUnnaturalHurtfulLiving Creatures
Book:Aristotle's Politics: Writings from the Complete Works: Politics, Economics, Constitution of Athens
Create image

“In [the soul] one part naturally rules, and the other is subject, and the virtue of the ruler we maintain to be different from that of the subject; the one being the virtue of the rational, and the other of the irrational part. Now, it is obvious that the same principle applies generally, and therefore almost all things rule and are ruled according to nature.”

DifferentSoulPrinciplesVirtueSubjectsAll ThingsObviousRationalRulersIrrational
Book:Politics
Create image

“Now the soul of man is divided into two parts, one of which has a rational principle in itself, and the other, not having a rational principle in itself, is able to obey such a principle. And we call a man in any way good because he has the virtues of these two parts.”

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

“If then, as we say, good craftsmen look to the mean as they work, and if virtue, like nature, is more accurate and better than any form of art, it will follow that virtue has the quality of hitting the mean. I refer to moral virtue [not intellectual], for this is concerned with emotions and actions, in which one can have excess or deficiency or a due mean.”

IfsLooksMeanArtActionFormEmotionQualityMoralVirtueIntellectualConcernedDuesExcessAccurateHittingDeficiencyCraftsmanMoral VirtuesIf Then
Book:The Nicomachean ethics
Create image

“Not every action or emotion however admits of the observance of a due mean. Indeed the very names of some directly imply evil, for instance malice, shamelessness, envy, and, of actions, adultery, theft, murder. All these and similar actions and feelings are blamed as being bad in themselves; it is not the excess or deficiency of them that we blame. It is impossible therefore ever to go right in regard to them - one must always be wrong.”

MeanFeelingsActionEvilNamesEmotionMoralVirtueImpossibleMurderRegardBlameDuesEnvyInstanceExcessAdulteryTheftMaliceDeficiencyObservanceBeing Bad
Author:Aristotle
Create image