Aristotle

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Fact versus reason

  “Knowledge of the fact differs from knowledge of the reason for the fact.”

  Our noteAristotle distinguishes between knowing that something happened and understanding why.

• Law of contradiction

  “It is impossible for the same attribute at once to belong and not to belong to the same thing and in the same relation”

  Our noteDefining the most certain principle of logic and reality.

• Forms of beauty

  “The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree.”

  Our noteArguing that mathematics reveals the essential elements of beauty and goodness.

• Purposeful action

  “Every art, and every system, and in like manner every action and purpose aims, it is thought, at some good”

  Our noteThe opening premise of his ethical theory regarding human goals.

• Iterative planning

  “Let this serve as an outline of the good; for we must presumably first sketch it roughly, and then later fill in the details.”

  Our noteHe describes the process of starting with a rough outline before refining details.

• Learning by doing

  “For the things we have to learn before we can do, we learn by doing.”

  Our noteAristotle discusses how human beings acquire skills and virtues through practice.

• Causes of action

  “Thus every action must be due to one or other of seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reasoning, anger, or appetite.”

  Our noteHe categorizes the fundamental drivers behind all human behavior.

• Effective communication

  “It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences.”

  Our noteAristotle explains why simple language resonates more with a general audience.

• Focus on substance

  “Commonly people attach the 'making' to the metre and say 'elegiac-makers', 'hexameter-makers,' giving them a common class-name by their metre, as if it was not their imitation that makes them 'makers”

  Our noteAristotle argues that the essence of a craft is its function, not its outward form.

• Organic plot resolution

  “the Denouement also should arise out of the plot itself, arid not depend on a stage-artifice”

  Our noteHe argues that solutions to problems should come from the story's internal logic.

• Natural discovery

  “The best of all Discoveries, however, is that arising from the incidents themselves, when the great surprise comes about through a probable incident”

  Our noteHe explains that the most effective revelations are those that feel earned by the plot.

• Defining class interests

  “Democracy, he explains, is the government not of the many but of the poor; oligarchy a government not of the few but of the rich.”

  Our noteAristotle redefines political systems based on the economic status of those in power.

• Definition of wealth

  “wealth is very often supposed to consist in the quantity of money which any one possesses, as this is the medium by which all trade is conducted”

  Our noteAristotle notes the common perception that wealth is simply the accumulation of currency.

• Utility of money

  “he who abounds in money often wants necessary food; and it is impossible to say that any person is in good circumstances when with all his possessions he may perish with hunger.”

  Our noteHe warns that currency is useless if it cannot be converted into the actual necessities of life.

• Incentives and Industry

  “for every man's attention being employed on his own particular concerns, will prevent mutual complaints against each other; nay, by this means industry will be increased, as each person will labour to improve his own private property”

  Our noteAristotle explains why private ownership leads to better results than communal property.

• Individual Happiness

  “for happiness cannot be thus added together, but must exist in every individual, as some properties belong to every integral”

  Our noteHe critiques the idea that a collective can be happy if the individuals are not.

• Insatiable human desire

  “for the wickedness of mankind is insatiable. For though at first two oboli might be sufficient, yet when once it is become customary, they continually want something more, until they set no limits to their expectations”

  Our noteHe observes that satisfying basic needs does not stop people from wanting more as they habituate to wealth.

• Managing subordinates

  “It seems to me indeed, if nothing else, yet something very troublesome to keep upon proper terms with them; for if you are remiss in your discipline they grow insolent, and think themselves upon an equality with their masters”

  Our noteAristotle discusses the difficulty of managing a workforce that is prone to resentment or insolence.

• Risk of specialization

  “The destruction of it commenced with their victories: for they knew not how to be idle, or engage in any other employment than war.”

  Our noteDiscussing how a state built only for war fails when it finally achieves peace.

• Merit over seniority

  “if amongst the candidates there are any of greater merit than the rest, these they prefer to those who may be older”

  Our notePraising the Carthaginian method of selecting leaders based on merit rather than age.

• Leaders and makers

  “they indeed are like flute-makers, while those who govern are the musicians who play on them.”

  Our noteAristotle uses a musical metaphor to distinguish between those who execute and those who direct.

• Consent and Authority

  “The one commands, in the manner the law directs, those who willingly obey; the other, arbitrarily, those who consent not.”

  Our noteAristotle distinguishes between legitimate kingship based on law and tyranny based on force.

• Power of partnership

  “two men of worth are certainly better than one”

  Our noteHe argues that collaborative leadership is superior to a single person's judgment.

• Prioritizing value

  “If, then, the mind is a more valuable part of man than the body, every one would wish to have those things more regarded in his city which tend to the advantage of these”

  Our noteAristotle emphasizes that intellectual and judicial functions are more vital than mere physical labor.

• Moderate Fortune

  “It is therefore the greatest happiness which the citizens can enjoy to possess a moderate and convenient fortune”

  Our noteHe argues that extreme wealth or poverty prevents a stable and happy community.

• Stability Through Balance

  “The middle state is therefore best, as being least liable to those seditions and insurrections which disturb the community”

  Our noteAristotle discusses how a strong middle class prevents political and social upheaval.

• Resource management

  “in small states it is necessary that a few of the citizens should execute many employments; for their numbers are so small it will not be convenient to have many of them in office at the same time”

  Our noteHe discusses how small organizations must adapt by having individuals handle multiple roles due to limited staff.

• Betrayal by friends

  “even a man's friends will do this if they despise him; for from the confidence he places in them, they think that they shall not be found out.”

  Our noteAristotle warns that losing the respect of close associates leads to betrayal.

• Intent behind learning

  “there is a great deal of difference in the reason for which any one does or learns anything”

  Our noteHe emphasizes that the motivation behind acquiring a skill changes the nature of the skill itself.

• Extreme inequality risks

  “The whole country was in the hands of a few persons, and if the tenants failed to pay their rent they were liable to be haled into slavery, and their children with them.”

  Our noteAristotle describes the severe social conditions in Athens before Solon's reforms.