Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
The purpose of the present study is not as it is in other inquiries, the attainment of knowledge, we are not conducting this inquiry in order to know what virtue is, but in order to become good, else there would be no advantage in studying it. For that reason, it becomes necessary to examine the problem of our actions and to ask how they are to be performed. For as we have said, the actions determine what kind of characteristics are developed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The aim of studying virtue is to become virtuous, not just to acquire knowledge about it.
This quote by Aristotle emphasizes that the ultimate goal of studying moral philosophy and virtue is not merely intellectual understanding but rather the practical application that leads to moral development. He argues that our actions shape our character, and therefore, understanding how to perform good actions is essential to becoming a better person.
Themes
VirtueActionCharacterMoralKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on ethics, one might use this quote to provoke discussion about the difference between knowing what is right and actually doing it.
More from Aristotle
All quotes →Those who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.
AristotleRead
For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.
AristotleRead
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
AristotleRead
But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.
AristotleRead
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
AristotleRead
Similar quotes
Reaction and non-action both create karma, but conscious action transcends karma.
Sri Sri Ravi ShankarRead
What are men to rocks and mountains?
Jane AustenRead
It doesn't really matter whether you grip the arms of the dentist's chair or let your hands lie in your lap. The drill drills on.
C. S. LewisRead
For thousands of years, human beings have been obsessed with beauty, truth, love, honor, altruism, courage, social relationships, art, and God. They all go together as subjective experiences, and it's a straw man to set God up as the delusion. If he is, then so is truth itself or beauty itself.
Deepak ChopraRead
You can't kill the past by denying the past. You can kill it only by making it obsolete. And even in that, you have to find honor in the past. You can't hack off pieces of yourself, and expect them to grow again.
Jeff BuckleyRead
Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
Bertrand RussellRead