Aristotle

As one of the greatest philosophers in history, Aristotle’s insights on life, ethics, and human nature are still relevant and inspiring today. Our collection of Aristotle quotes offers wisdom and perspective on a wide range of topics, including morality, politics, education, and more. Use our quotes to gain inspiration and guidance on your own personal growth and to deepen your understanding of the world around you. Start your journey of exploration and discovery with our Aristotle quotes today!

Where these lines come from

Partly true “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” These words come from J. A. K. Thomson’s free 1955 translation of the Nicomachean Ethics, book 1, chapter 9 (1099b), where he added them to spell out what “the conclusion” is. The Greek says only that this “will be found to agree with what we said at the outset” (W. D. Ross’s translation). The idea is partly Aristotle’s. In that chapter he argues that happiness comes “as a result of virtue and some process of learning or training”, and that “to entrust to chance what is greatest and most noble would be a very defective arrangement”. He also says it needs some external goods and a complete life, since even the prosperous “may fall into great misfortunes in old age, as is told of Priam”. So it does not depend on us alone. Ross translation, book 1

For “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”, which is Will Durant summarising Aristotle in 1926, see Older Than You Think.

Each line was checked against the original text, or a named translation of it, in September 2026. How we check, and what we will not quote, is set out in our editorial standards.