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Who really said it

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

Written by Aristotle 384–322 BC · Greek philosopher; student of Plato, tutor of Alexander the Great
Verified Free to reuse

Genuinely Aristotle, from the ‘Politics’, Book I, chapter 2 (Bekker 1253a31). This exact wording is Benjamin Jowett’s celebrated 1885 English translation (Oxford, Clarendon Press) — confirmed word-for-word against the Jowett text ↗ and cross-checked against the Greek in the Perseus edition ↗.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all” — Aristotle, Politics, Book I, ch. 2 (1253a31), trans. Benjamin Jowett (1885)

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In context

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Provenance

The source

Work
Politics, Book I, chapter 2
Reference
Bekker 1253a31
Translation
Benjamin Jowett, 1885 (Oxford, Clarendon Press)
Original language
Ancient Greek (composed c. 335–323 BC)

For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all; since armed injustice is the more dangerous, and he is equipped at birth with the arms of intelligence and with moral qualities which he may use for the worst ends. Wherefore, if he have not virtue, he is the most unholy and the most savage of animals, and the most full of lust and gluttony. But justice is the bond of men in states.

From Aristotle’s argument that man is by nature a ‘political animal’ whose capacities for reason and speech make him best under law — and most dangerous without it.

Read Politics Book I in Jowett's translation (MIT Classics)

How we traced it

  • The line is genuinely Aristotle: it appears in the Politics, Book I, ch. 2 ↗, in Benjamin Jowett’s translation, with this exact wording.
  • The Greek passage (Bekker 1253a31) is confirmed in the Perseus Digital Library ↗, where H. Rackham renders it “the worst of all when sundered from law and justice.”
  • Jowett’s translation was first published in 1885 ↗ by the Clarendon Press, Oxford — the source of the wording that circulates today.
Public domain

Aristotle’s Greek text is ancient and long in the public domain. The exact English wording is Benjamin Jowett’s translation, first published in 1885 (Jowett died 1893) — well before 1931 — so this translation is also in the public domain in the United States.

This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.

Fact-check

Correctly Aristotle — but often misquoted

The attribution here is right: this is real Aristotle. What gets garbled is the wording — the internet circulates several looser paraphrases alongside the genuine Jowett line.

“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst.” Reworded

This popular short form — spread by sites like BrainyQuote ↗ — is a loose paraphrase, not any standard published translation. Jowett’s actual text reads “when perfected, is the best of animals… the worst of all.”

“For as man is the best of the animals when perfected, so he is the worst of all when sundered from law and justice.” Different translator

This is H. Rackham’s Loeb rendering, seen in the Perseus edition ↗ — the same passage, different wording.

The thought and the source are authentically Aristotle’s; the familiar “when perfected… worst of all” phrasing is Benjamin Jowett’s 1885 translation of the Politics, Book I ↗.

Context

Why it mattered

The line closes Aristotle’s argument in Politics Book I that the city-state (polis) exists by nature and that “man is by nature a political animal.” Because humans alone possess reasoned speech (logos) — the ability to declare the just and the unjust — they are uniquely fitted for life under law.

That same faculty is double-edged: intelligence and appetite “equipped at birth” can serve virtue or, unchecked by law and justice, the worst ends. Hence Aristotle’s conclusion that justice is “the bond of men in states.”

Justice is the bond of men in states.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Justice Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Politics, Book I (Jowett translation)classics.mit.edu

Full text of Book I in Benjamin Jowett's 1885 translation, containing the exact quote.
Politics 1.1253a (Greek + Rackham)perseus.tufts.edu

Perseus Digital Library: the Greek text with H. Rackham's English translation at Bekker 1253a.
The Politics of Aristotle (1885 ed.)archive.org

Scanned original of Jowett's 1885 Clarendon Press translation, establishing first-publication date.
Politics (Jowett) — full quote in contextgoodreads.com

The passage with its surrounding sentences on armed injustice and justice as the bond of states.
The Politics, 2 vols. (Jowett)oll.libertyfund.org

Online Library of Liberty edition of Jowett's translation for cross-reference.

The real author

Aristotle

Aristotle

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

Aristotle of Stagira (384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath whose works span logic, ethics, biology, metaphysics, rhetoric and politics. His Politics examines the city-state (polis) as the natural community in which humans flourish, arguing that man is by nature a ‘political animal’ who realizes his full nature only under law and justice.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Aristotle. Politics, Book I, ch. 2 (1253a31). Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1885.

MLA (9th ed.)

Aristotle. Politics. Translated by Benjamin Jowett, Clarendon Press, 1885.

APA (7th ed.)

Aristotle. (1885). Politics (B. Jowett, Trans.). Clarendon Press. (Original work published ca. 350 BCE)

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/for-man-when-perfected-is-the-best-of-animals-but-when

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