Aristotle

384–322 BC · Greek philosopher · student of Plato, tutor of Alexander

Aristotle of Stagira (384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher whose surviving works — the Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, Rhetoric, Metaphysics and more — are among the most closely studied texts in the Western canon. Nothing resembling this sentence appears anywhere in that corpus. The concept of “tolerance” as a civic virtue and the framing of a “dying society” are modern; the line was pinned to his name centuries later to borrow his prestige.

Traced to source

6 quotes we’ve traced to Aristotle

“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all”

Verified

“Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue”

Verified

“Hope is the dream of a waking man”

Verified

“Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em; next, tell 'em; next, tell 'em what you told 'em”

Disputed

“The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal”

Disputed

“Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society”

Disputed

Not actually Aristotle

Often misattributed to Aristotle

Famous lines widely pinned on Aristotle that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others”

actually Winston Churchill

“The place where your talent meets the world's needs is the job God has in mind for you”

actually Marcus Bach

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing”

actually Elbert Hubbard

“Those who can, do; those who cannot, teach”

actually George Bernard Shaw

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

actually Will Durant

On the research bench

Commonly pinned on Aristotle — under review

2 lines flagged as pinned on Aristotle and queued for a full source trace — not yet verified.

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

Disputed

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Disputed

Did they really say it?

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