Aristotle

Aristotle's father was a physician and he once served under Alexander The Great as his personal tutor. His father taught him to be interested in natural life. Aristotle was Plato's most prized student just as Plato was Socrates' most prized student. He was not just a philosopher, he was also a scientist who was endlessly fascinated by nature. He studied nature in great detail just as his father has taught him. Aristotle can be said to have invented modern logic, the whys and whats. 

It is not easy to digest Aristotle's philosophy as he lectured in many fields including logic, music, astronomy, poetry, politics, ethics, physics, etc. Although a learned student of Plato he differed when it came to the idea of knowledge. Whereas Plato believed that man was born with knowledge, Aristotle argued that knowledge came from experience. In this area, he became Plato's critic. So there you have it - Rationalism, a knowledge that comes before experience (based on reason) and Empiricism, knowledge that comes after experience, became the intellectual tradition in the Western world for some 2500 years benefiting from these ancient Greek thoughts. Would we be here and who we are without Greek civilization? For the quest of knowledge there must be inquiries. We ask questions, rationalise or use empirical methods. Just by reading Aristotle's quotes, you will get the measure of the man:

Quotes

Anybody can become angry - that is easy but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way, that is not within every body's power and is not easy.

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

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

I count him braver who overcomes his desire than him who conquers his enemies for the hardest victory is over self.

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour. 

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things but their inward significance.

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.


The energy of the mind is the essence of life.


He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.

Dignity does not consist in possessing honours, but in deserving them.

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.


For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honour the truth first.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous.

No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world.

The end of labour is to gain leisure.

Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.

Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government.

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.


Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of reference.

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.


The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.


The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.


Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since 

there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life - knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.

Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.


The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.


We become just by performing just action, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave action.


Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.


Think

From Socrates to Plato to Aristotle where they espoused wisdom, integrity, they had also frequently spouted wisdom on truth, courage, of society to be fair and just. Where there is no fairness or justice there can hardly be peace. We are to live our life not just for ourselves but also for others.

America's Declaration of Independence stated:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I do like "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

These great thinkers provoked us to inquire, ask questions, find solutions and most fundamentally to think. If you can't even think, how can you speak, write, teach, share or do. Everything begins with thoughts. Therefore, your mind is the most powerful weapon and weapons are used to destroy or protect and save. It can be destructive or creative. 

What have you been thinking of lately? I wish you all the wisdom in the world.