Ancient Greek philosophers are so well-known; we’ve covered them a lot for our quote of the day series. But few are as well known as Aristotle, who was an ancient Greek philosopher, scientist and “one of the greatest intellectual figures of Classical antiquity and Western history,” according to Britannica. His legacy is felt in the writing that survived the tests of time, as well as in his many works within several different fields, including (but not limited to) physics, biology, logic, criticism, ethics, metaphysics, politics and more, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) reported.
Little is known about Aristotle’s own life, but we do know that he was born in northern Greece in 384 BCE and died in 322 BCE, per Britannica. His father was a physician, with his most famous “patient” being Amyntas III, the king of Macedonia and Alexander the Great’s grandfather. Aristotle went to Athens in 367 BCE to join the Academy of Plato, where he studied and worked under the famous philosopher for 20 years. Famously, though, Aristotle’s philosophy differs in that he’s “realistic, utilitarian” and “commonsensical,” and Plato is “idealistic, utopian” and “otherworldly.”
Aristotle was the “first genuine scientist in history,” per Britannica, and early in his philosophical career, he believed that the “best form of philosophy” was contemplating the universe of nature, and it’s our purpose on this Earth to do so. As IEP reported, Aristotle “radically transformed most topics he investigated,” and he’s known as the “father of Western logic,” creating the first “formal system of reasoning.”
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Quote of the Day by Aristotle
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“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
This quote comes from Florilegium by Joannes Stobaeus. He compiled many valuable quotes from Greek authors and philosophers, such as Aristotle; the English title of this work is actually “Anthology.”
And you can find a similar statement in Aristotle’s own Nicomachean Ethics, his best-known work on ethics and the science of a good life. In Book III, he writes:
“The man, then, who faces and who fears the right things and from the right motive, in the right way and from the right time, and who feels confidence under the corresponding conditions, is brave.”
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Deeper Meaning of Aristotle’s Quote—Overcoming Your Fears
Aristotle explains that facing your fears head-on and overcoming them will “truly” set you free.
Fearing something can really put a block on your mind; it can stop you from moving forward or being ambitious. But if you conquer your discomfort, then you won’t have the burden of those anxieties anymore. Even if you can’t fully defeat a fear, just facing it can be enough to break through any boundaries you set for yourself initially with your fears. Trying is better than staying away from obstacles entirely.
Since Aristotle seemed to know no bounds, it makes sense that he’d preach to others that you need to overcome your anxieties to succeed and move forward in life.
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More Quotes from Aristotle
- “One thing alone not even God can do, To make undone whatever hath been done.”
- “Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.”
- “The greater the length, the more beautiful will the piece be by reason of its size, provided that the whole be perspicuous.”
- “For that which has become habitual, becomes as it were natural.”
- “The man with a host of friends who slaps on the back everybody he meets is regarded as the friend of nobody.”
- “Moral qualities are so constituted as to be destroyed by excess and by deficiency…”
- “Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue”
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